Employment contract for a nursery practitioner

A nursery employs staff whose suitability, qualifications and conduct are regulated by the early years framework, whose hours may follow school terms, and whose ratios decide how many children the nursery can take. The contract has to make the suitability checks and the qualifications conditions of the role, set hours and holiday for term-time and all-year staff correctly, carry the safeguarding and conduct obligations, and pay at or above the minimum wage with training the framework requires. I draft that contract for the nursery for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for the grade.

Who this is for

Day nurseries, pre-schools, nursery chains and early years settings in England employing practitioners, room leaders and assistants under the early years framework.

What matters in a nursery practitioner's contract

Suitability, checks and the early years framework

A registered early years provider must ensure that staff are suitable under the statutory framework made under the Childcare Act 2006, with an enhanced disclosure with barred list check under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 regime, references, identity and qualification checks, and a declaration under the disqualification regulations made under the 2006 Act that the employee is not disqualified from working with children; the contract should make those checks conditions of employment, require the employee to disclose immediately anything that could affect suitability or disqualification, and require compliance with the provider's safeguarding and health policies as the regulator inspects them.

Qualifications, ratios and the role

The framework sets staff to child ratios by age and the qualifications staff must hold to count in them, and the contract should state the qualification level the role requires, the employee's obligation to maintain it and to complete paediatric first aid and safeguarding training, the rooms and age groups the employee may work in, and the employer's right to deploy staff across rooms to maintain ratios; an employee whose qualification lapses may no longer count in ratio, and the contract should say what follows.

Hours, term-time working and holiday

The contract should state the hours and the pattern (all-year, term-time only, or a stated number of weeks), the rota and its notice, breaks under the Working Time Regulations 1998, and the holiday arrangements: for term-time staff, accrued leave calculated under the Regulations as amended for part-year workers, paid at the rate the Regulations require and taken in the closure periods, with the pay spread over the year where the contract provides; the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 must state the hours and whether they vary.

Safeguarding, conduct and the children

The contract should set the conduct standards the framework and the provider's policies require (supervision, intimate care, physical contact, mobile phones and cameras in rooms, social media, no contact with children or families outside the setting without approval), the employee's duty to report concerns to the designated safeguarding lead and to the local authority where required, confidentiality about children and families under the UK GDPR, and medication and allergy procedures; breaches of safeguarding rules are gross misconduct and the contract should say so.

Pay, the minimum wage and training

The contract should state the pay at least the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 rate for the employee's age for all working hours including training, staff meetings and set-up time, the apprentice rate where the employee is an apprentice under an approved agreement, pension under the Pensions Act 2008, and the training the provider funds with any repayment on a sliding scale consented to under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 for external qualifications; the sector's pay sits close to the minimum, and the contract should state the hours the pay covers.

Notice, the particulars and the standard terms

The written particulars required from the first day are contained in the contract, fixes probation and the notice period above the statutory minimum in section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, refers to the disciplinary and grievance procedures and the handbook, states the sick pay terms, at least the statutory payment under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and the health declaration and immunisation information the provider requests, carries the employer's duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and contains confidentiality and a non-solicitation of families and staff for a short period where the nursery can justify it; the probation clause anticipates the changes the Employment Rights Act 2025 makes to the first months of employment, which take effect on a timetable the regulations set.

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 we employ a practitioner before the DBS certificate arrives?

The framework requires suitability checks, and the contract makes them a condition of employment. Starting on supervised duties pending the certificate is a matter for the provider's policy and risk assessment, never unsupervised contact.

How do we calculate holiday for term-time only staff?

Under the amended regulations, accrued as a percentage of hours worked for part-year workers, paid at the required rate and taken in closure periods. The contract states the method and whether pay is spread over the year.

A practitioner's level three qualification has lapsed. What happens?

They may no longer count in ratio at that level, and the contract says what follows: redeployment, a period to requalify, or a change of role. The ratio rules decide the nursery's capacity.

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 tutor employed by a tutoring company
• 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.