Employment contract for a designer

Designers produce work that is protected by copyright and design right, that they want to show in their portfolios, and that they may have started before they joined or want to continue freelance on the side. The contract has to put the designs with the employer, deal with moral rights and credits, say what the designer may show and keep, govern side work and prior work, and carry the licences for the fonts, stock and software the designer uses. For £595, fixed, with delivery in five working days, I draft the contract for the employer as a template that can be reused for the grade.

Who this is for

Design studios, agencies, brands and product companies in England and Wales employing graphic, digital, UX and UI, product, packaging and interior designers.

What matters in a designer's contract

Ownership of the designs and the moral rights waiver

Designs created in the course of employment belong to the employer under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 for copyright and under section 215 for unregistered design right, and registered designs applied for by the employer under the Registered Designs Act 1949 belong to it, and the contract should confirm the position, extend it to work done outside hours that relates to the employer's business, waive the designer's moral rights under sections 77 to 80 of the 1988 Act (the right to be identified and the right to object to derogatory treatment, which otherwise let a designer object to how the employer alters the work), and provide for confirmatory assignments; a client who buys the work from the employer will ask for all of this.

Portfolio use, credits and the designer's own profile

The contract should say what the designer may show in a portfolio and when (after the work is public, with the client's confidentiality respected, with the employer's and the client's names used as the employer permits), whether the designer may be credited and how, and the position of the designer's personal website and social media profile in showing the employer's work; designers expect portfolio rights and an employer that refuses them entirely loses candidates, so the clause should grant a limited licence rather than leave the practice unregulated.

Prior work, side work and freelance clients

The contract should schedule the designer's pre-existing work that is excluded from the assignment, permit side work and freelance clients only with disclosure and consent and never for competitors or the employer's clients, prohibit the use of the employer's time, equipment, software licences and materials for side work, and require the designer to keep the two separate; a designer who freelances for the employer's client is the situation the clause exists to prevent.

Fonts, stock, software and third-party licences

The contract should require the designer to use only fonts, stock images, templates and software licensed to the employer, to comply with the licence terms (which often restrict use to a number of users or projects), not to use personal licences for the employer's work (which leaves the employer without the licence when the designer leaves), and to record the licences used in each project for the employer's and the client's records; design work delivered with an unlicensed font is a claim against the employer, and the contract should make the licence check the designer's responsibility.

Confidentiality, clients and pitches

The contract should impose confidentiality on client work, unreleased designs, pitches and pricing, require compliance with clients' confidentiality terms the employer has signed, prohibit sharing unreleased work on social media or in competitions, and address the designer's conduct with clients and the handover of client relationships on leaving, with a non-solicitation of clients and staff for a short period where the designer has client contact; a non-compete is rarely appropriate for a designer and is omitted unless the role is senior.

Hours, pay and the particulars

The contract supplies the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 from day one, states the hours and any hybrid pattern, the expectation around deadlines and pitches with time off in lieu, the pay at least the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 rate, the holiday entitlement the Working Time Regulations 1998 give, sick pay, pension under the Pensions Act 2008, probation and notice with section 86 as the floor, the disciplinary and grievance procedures and the handbook, and equipment and software provided for home working with the data security terms that apply.

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

Can our designer put our client's work in her portfolio?

Under a limited licence the contract grants: after the work is public, respecting the client's confidentiality, with names used as the employer permits. Without the clause the practice is unregulated and the client may object.

What are moral rights and why does the contract waive them?

The designer's rights to be identified as author and to object to derogatory treatment of the work, which cannot be assigned but can be waived. Without the waiver, the designer could object to how the employer or its client alters the design.

Our designer uses fonts on his own licence. Does that matter?

It matters. When he leaves, the licence goes with him and the employer's files may be unlicensed. The contract requires the employer's licences to be used and recorded.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Employment contract for a marketing executive

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.