Temporary Employment Contract Template

A temporary employment contract is a legal document used by companies to hire workers for a fixed period of time. Most of the time employment contracts are written with an open or indefinite lifespan, whilst temporary contracts have a set expiry date.

Businesses will often call upon short-term workers to achieve their goals. A temporary or part-time contract protects both parties under state and federal law even if they will only be working together for a short time. 

There are lots of reasons why people seek temporary employment. For some flexible working suits their lifestyle better, whilst in other cases their work is seasonal rather than year-round.

The most common types of temporary workers include the following:

• Contractors: employees who are only hired for a limited number of months or years to help companies manage projects and workload within the business.

• Part-time workers: workers who are only hired for a set number of hours per week or per month.

• Seasonal workers: employees who are only hired during a specific time of year. For example, farmworkers hired to help collect the harvest in late summer. 

• Interns: short-term, usually unpaid, workers who join a company to gain work experience. 

A temporary contract works like any other kind of employment contract for a job, aside from the fact it specifies a clear end date. It grants workers the same clarification on their hours, pay, and duties as you would expect normally.

However, it will also include a section detailing the term of the contract. This will explain how long it is set to run for and when it will end. 

A temporary contract does not mean the employee can’t continue to work for the company after this time. However, if both parties wish to continue their arrangement they will need to negotiate a new temporary or full-time employment contract together.

In order to make your temporary employment contract effective legally you will need to include a few crucial terms and conditions. These will outline what the employee is expected to do, what rules they must follow, and how they will be compensated

The most important terms to include in a temporary employment contract are as follows:

• Terms of employment: outlining the position the employee will hold, their working hours, and their financial compensation. 

• Benefits: this will specify if the employee is entitled to benefits such as paid leave or other incentives.

• Responsibilities: explaining what the employee will do in the company and outlining their main duties.

• Contract duration: detailing how long the contract will run and when it will end.

You can also add optional terms and clauses such as an NDA or a non-compete clause to the contract too. Whether you need these or not depends on the type of business you run and your specific situation. 

Writing your own temporary contract can be easily done online. Using our contract generator and professional templates you can quickly put together a legally binding agreement between a company and an employee. 

You’ll receive step-by-step guidance on what is legally required in your state and prompts on the essential data the final contract must include. This will ensure you don’t miss any key details that you need to remember. 

Alternatively, it is possible to have a lawyer draw up a contract for you. However, this is usually more time-consuming and expensive to do.  

Before beginning your own temporary contract, it’s a good idea to look over a real example first. Our employment contract sample below shows how a finished template will look and can give you a better idea of the key legal texts that will be included.

There are many other important legal documents needed to run a company effectively. Try one of our other business templates below to keep things running smoothly:

• At-Will Employment Contract

• Resignation Letter

• Independent Contractor Agreement

• Service Agreement

• NDA