Contract: templates and forms

A Cypriot business's agreement with a self-employed person who provides services as an independent contractor: the services, independence over when, where and how the work is done, tax and Social Insurance as the contractor's responsibility, fee and invoicing, expenses, confidentiality, intellectual property and termination. The label alone is not enough: if in practice the contractor works like an employee, the relationship may be treated as employment, so the agreement sets out how the work is actually done. It has no non-compete (section 27 of Cap. 149).

A business's contract with a freelancer in Greece: the services, independence in time, place and means, the fee, invoicing, confidentiality, copyright and termination. The independence terms matter: under Greek Law 2639/1998 the contract is presumed to hide employment if the freelancer works personally, exclusively or mainly for the same client for nine consecutive months. It records whether the freelancer has only one or two clients, in which case they are insured like an employee (Law 4387/2016, art. 39(9)), and whether the 20% tax withheld on invoices above €300 applies (art. 64 of Law 4172/2013).

A contract between businesses in Greece for a piece of work or for services: what is and is not included, timing, the fee with e-invoicing, acceptance and objections, liability and its cap, copyright, termination. It states at the outset whether the contractor owes a result (a contract for work under art. 681 of the Greek Civil Code) or only careful performance of services — the choice that decides liability for defects. Late payment carries the interest and the €40 of Greek Law 4152/2013.

The agreement by which a Romanian employer and employee end the employment contract on an agreed date, without notice or a reason (art. 55(b) of the Labour Code). It fixes the last working day, the final pay — including payment for untaken leave — and the return of company property, and leaves room for any extra sum negotiated. It cannot contain the employee waiving statutory rights.

A Polish settlement that ends a dispute without going to court — over a payment, damage, a tenancy account or a service: the parties with PESEL numbers, the dispute, what each side concedes, the amount, deadline and account for payment, and a statement that performing the settlement exhausts the claims concerned (art. 917 of the Civil Code). It explains that such a settlement is not enforceable on its own, and how to make it so if the other side fails to perform.

A Polish contract for a specific, verifiable result — a design, a text, software, an object: the work and its requirements, the deadline, a lump-sum fee in words, acceptance by protocol, remedying defects and warranty, the right to withdraw for delay, and transfer of copyright on the named fields of exploitation. It reminds a business client to report the contract to ZUS on the RUD form.

A Polish employment contract with no end date, carrying what art. 29 § 1 of the Labour Code requires: the parties with the employer's registered address, job title and duties, place of work, working time, pay and its components, pay date and start date. Notice periods are written out, and the employer gives the remaining terms separately within 7 days of the employee starting work.

A Polish employment contract with an end date, carrying the elements art. 29 § 1 of the Labour Code requires and the limit in art. 25¹: no more than 33 months and three such contracts in total between the same parties — beyond that the contract becomes a permanent one. Since 2023 the employer's notice must state its reason, and the notice periods are the same as for a permanent contract.

The contract between a client and a contractor for a specific piece of work — a repair, a translation, a design, a course, anything given to a person rather than to a company. The weak point of most such contracts is vagueness: without a precise description of the work, a deadline and criteria for acceptance, there is no way to prove what was agreed. Here all three are separate fields rather than free text.

A contract between a business and a self-employed freelancer in Germany — in design, copywriting, programming, consulting or media, for example — granting usage rights in the work results under the German Copyright Act (UrhG). It describes genuinely independent work, without instructions on time, place and method and without integration into the client's organisation, and covers the fee, the small-business VAT rule, the artists' social levy, confidentiality and termination. It states the risk of disguised employment plainly: the facts decide, not the label (§ 7(1) SGB IV). With a choice on the status determination under § 7a SGB IV. In German.

A Greek employment contract with no end date, written for the Labour Law Code (Presidential Decree 62/2025) and the 2025–26 changes: job and duties, place of work, hours, gross pay in figures and words, the holiday bonuses and leave allowance, probation of up to six months and how the contract ends. It gives the essential terms in writing, as the law requires within one week, and sets out the ERGANI II steps: the contract itself is no longer filed, but since 16 February 2026 the employee must accept the hiring notice before starting.

A written employment contract with no end date for an employee in Cyprus: job and duties, place and hours of work, gross salary in words, payment into a bank account, social insurance, 20 or 24 days' annual leave, probation and termination under the Termination of Employment Law. It gives in writing the terms Law 25(I)/2023 requires the employer to hand over, the core ones within seven days of the start, and protects confidential information without a non-compete clause, which Cypriot law would treat as void.

An open-ended contract of employment (Dienstvertrag) for salaried employees or workers in Austria, in German, carrying every item the Dienstzettel must state under the Austrian Employment Contract Law Adaptation Act (§ 2 AVRAG) as amended on 28 March 2024: seat, job and a short description of the work, collective agreement and pay group, probation month, working time and overtime, pay, leave under the Leave Act (UrlG), notice periods under § 20 AngG and § 1159 ABGB, the termination procedure, the severance fund (Abfertigung neu) and the social insurer.

For a family or person in Spain hiring a household employee on an open-ended contract: cleaning, cooking, childcare or care of an older person, living in or out. It sets out the tasks, the trial period, the hours and rest of Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2011, pay by the month or by the hour, pay in kind, the extra payments, holidays and the termination rules as they stand since Royal Decree-Law 16/2022. Both sides sign it before work starts. In Spanish.

For an employer in Spain that wants to set down in writing what information an employee must keep secret, during the contract and afterwards. It defines confidential information, what is excluded, permitted use, the return of documents and equipment at the end and the period after termination, in line with the duty of good faith in the Spanish Workers' Statute and Spanish Law 1/2019 on Trade Secrets. It is not a non-compete clause: it does not stop the employee working for another business later. Both sides sign it. In Spanish.

For an employer and employee in Italy who want confidential information protected after the job ends, when the duty of loyalty under art. 2105 of the Italian Civil Code lapses. The agreement defines the confidential information, how long the duty lasts after the job ends, the exceptions (public information, legal duties, whistleblowing reports) and the return of documents. It is not a non-compete clause: it does not restrict future work and sets no penalty. In Italian.

A service agreement between two businesses in France, for an assignment of fixed or open-ended length: services, best-efforts or result obligation, price before VAT and invoicing rhythm, payment term within the sixty-day limit, late-payment penalties and the €40 indemnity of article L. 441-10 of the French Commercial Code, confidentiality, right to use the deliverables without assignment of copyright, termination on notice or for breach, French law. Signed in two originals. In French.

For giving an assignment to a registered independent in France (micro-entrepreneur, sole trader or one-person company) without the relationship looking like salaried employment: assignment and deliverables, freedom over organisation, hours, place and other clients, no relationship of subordination, price and invoicing, payment term and late-payment penalties, registration documents and the URSSAF vigilance certificate, right to use the deliverables, termination. Signed in two originals. In French.

The service contract between a German GmbH or UG (haftungsbeschränkt) and its managing director (Geschäftsführer), separate from the appointment by shareholders' resolution. It covers duties and transactions needing the shareholders' consent, start and place of work, salary and variable pay, sick pay, holiday, a non-compete during the contract, confidentiality, termination and garden leave after removal from office. It records the director's shareholding and says when the director is insured as an employee: without shares always; a shareholder-director is self-employed only with a majority or a blocking minority over all company business. In German.

A supplement to a German employment contract on working from home and mobile work, in German: start and extent, a choice between mobile work and telework at a fixed home workstation under the German Workplaces Ordinance (ArbStättV), working time, availability and time recording, equipment and a cost allowance, data protection at home, health and safety, accident insurance, no work from abroad without a separate agreement, and ending the arrangement. German law gives no right to a home office, so it has to be agreed.

An agreement between Polish businesses for ongoing or periodic services — IT, marketing, accounting, consulting: the scope and what falls outside it, the term, the net fee plus VAT, payment within no more than 60 days, invoices in the national e-invoicing system (KSeF), professional diligence, confidentiality, a liability cap and termination. The rules on mandate contracts apply to it (art. 750 of the Civil Code).

An agreement under which an employee with access to particularly important information undertakes not to compete with the employer for a set time after leaving. The employer pays compensation of at least 25% of the pay received before the employment ended, for a period equal to the ban. It must be in writing on pain of nullity, and stops binding when the employer stops paying.

Signed before negotiations, before taking on a subcontractor, or before giving access to internal information. What matters is not the prohibition itself but the three things around it: what exactly counts as confidential, which exceptions are recognised, and how long the duty lasts after the relationship ends. An agreement without those three is hard to enforce.

For ongoing work with no clear end product: consultancy, maintenance, bookkeeping, training, a support retainer. It differs from a contract for work in that what is owed is an activity rather than a result — so what is agreed here is scope, frequency and response time, not the acceptance of a finished thing. Agree what is expressly outside the scope as well.