Employment contract

An employment contract records the employment relationship: the function, the place of work, pay, and working time. Below are the terms worth checking before you sign, not a form to “download and sign.”

If you are offered a civil-law format instead of employment for an ongoing role, compare it with a civil-law contract and the article civil-law contract vs employment.

What an employment contract should contain

• The employer (name, TIN) and the employee
• Position / job function, place of work, or a remote format
• The start date
• Pay terms: salary or wage rate, payment dates, and what the pay consists of
• Working time and rest time, and leave
• The nature of the work (if it applies) and working conditions
• The term of the contract: open-ended or fixed-term — with the ground

Probation, material liability, confidentiality, and references to internal policies are often added. It matters that you have been shown the job description and the local acts that the employment contract refers to.

A fixed-term employment contract

A fixed-term employment contract is allowed on the grounds provided by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The text should state the term and the reason it is fixed-term. Otherwise the dispute is often that the relationship is open-ended.

• The end date, or the event that defines the term
• The ground for the fixed term
• The procedure for extension or ending

Pay, working time, and probation

• The salary amount should not be “hidden” only in an order
• Bonuses: guaranteed or “at discretion” — these are different models
• Overtime and irregular working hours — with clear conditions
• Probation: the length and the criteria for an “unsatisfactory result”

A “form” versus a check

A template from a search gives a frame and does not know your bonus, remote format, or probation. Compare the text with the offer. A clause-by-clause review is how to check an employment contract. On drafting in general, see drafting a contract and how to draft a contract.

For the employee and for the employer

The employee should compare the employment contract with the offer: position, salary, bonuses, working time, probation, and place of work or remote work. The employer needs correct details, the ground for a fixed term (if the contract is fixed-term), references to internal policies, and no wording that makes dismissal stricter than the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Do not confuse “check an employment contract” as a review of terms with a check “in a Ministry of Internal Affairs database” or through Gosuslugi — that is a different request. DocumentCHEK reviews the text for risky wording. If the other party sent a civil-law contract instead of employment for an ongoing role, open the civil-law contract page and compare the signs of disguise.

Before you sign: print or save the final file, and check the annexes and that you have been shown the job description. If there are several versions of the offer, compare the versions so you do not miss a quiet edit to pay or probation.

Draft or check

Upload a PDF or Word file to contract review or with AI. A draft of the terms — draft online. To compare the offer and the final file — version comparison.

Common questions about an employment contract