Employment contract for a care worker

Care workers are employed in a regulated service, paid at or near the minimum wage for hours that include travel between visits and nights on the premises, and subject to checks and training the regulator requires. The contract has to pay correctly for every kind of hour, set rotas within the working time rules, make the checks and training conditions of the role, carry the safeguarding and conduct obligations, and deal with driving and lone working. I draft that contract for the provider for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for the grade.

Who this is for

Care homes, domiciliary care agencies, supported living providers and other regulated care services in England and Wales employing care workers, senior carers and support workers.

What matters in a care worker's contract

Pay, travel time, sleep-ins and the minimum wage

The hourly rate must meet the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 rate, and the contract should treat as paid working time travel between care visits (which counts for minimum wage purposes under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015), time spent waiting between visits at the employer's requirement, and training, while sleep-in shifts are working time for minimum wage purposes only when the worker is awake and working, so that the contract should state a sleep-in allowance and the rate for hours worked during the night; a provider that pays visit time only is the minimum wage case the care sector keeps producing.

Hours, rotas and the working time rules

The contract should state the hours (fixed, variable or guaranteed minimum), the rota notice and the right to change it, rest breaks and daily and weekly rest under the Working Time Regulations 1998 with the compensatory rest the Regulations require where breaks cannot be taken, the night work limits and health assessments, and the forty-eight hour average with any opt-out signed separately; the Employment Rights Act 2025 adds rights for zero and low-hours workers to guaranteed hours and shift notice on a timetable the regulations set, and the rota clause should be drafted to those expectations.

Checks, training and the regulator's requirements

A registered provider must satisfy regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 that staff are of good character and have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience the role needs, with an enhanced disclosure with barred list check under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 regime, references and a full employment history; the contract should make those checks and the completion of induction and mandatory training conditions of employment, require the employee to keep the employer informed of anything affecting their suitability, and require compliance with the provider's policies as the regulator inspects them.

Conduct, safeguarding and the clients

The contract should set conduct standards with the people the employee cares for (dignity, consent, no gifts or financial dealings, no personal relationships), the employee's duty to report safeguarding concerns and incidents under the provider's policies and the regulator's requirements, confidentiality about clients and their records under the UK GDPR and the duty of confidence, the rules on social media and photographs, and the medication, moving and handling and infection control procedures the employee must follow; a breach of safeguarding rules is gross misconduct and the contract should say so.

Driving, lone working and safety

Domiciliary care workers drive between visits and work alone in clients' homes, and the contract should require a licence, business insurance (the employer's or the employee's with the mileage allowance covering it) and vehicle checks where the employee uses their own car, compliance with the lone working policy, reporting of risks in clients' homes, and the employer's duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 carried into procedures for lone working, manual handling under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 and personal protective equipment; the employee's right to withdraw from an unsafe situation should be stated.

Particulars, notice and the remaining terms

Alongside the written particulars section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires from the first day, the contract covers probation, a notice period no shorter than section 86 of that Act permits, the provider's disciplinary and grievance procedures, statutory sick pay, with the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 setting the statutory floor, auto-enrolment under the Pensions Act 2008, holiday accrual for variable hours staff under the amended Working Time Regulations 1998, repayment of external training costs on a sliding scale with the consent section 13 of the 1996 Act requires, and the position where a care contract changes hands and staff transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006; restrictive covenants should be limited to a non-solicitation of clients where the provider can justify it.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Do we have to pay travel time between visits?

Travel between visits must be paid, at the minimum wage at least, because travel between assignments is working time for minimum wage purposes. The contract pays it and states the rate; paying visit time only is the claim the sector keeps losing.

Are sleep-in shifts paid at the minimum wage?

Only the hours the worker is awake and working. The contract states a sleep-in allowance and the rate for hours worked during the night, which is the position after the courts settled it.

Can we start a carer before the DBS check comes back?

The regulator expects checks before unsupervised work with vulnerable people, and the contract makes the check a condition of employment. Starting on supervised duties pending the check is a matter for the provider's risk assessment and policy.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Contractor agreement for a care worker introduced by an agency
• Employment contract for a nanny

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.