Employment Agreements & Contracts Winnipeg

Why It Matters

The agreement you sign on day one decides what a goodbye costs

Plenty of businesses hire on a handshake, a two-line offer email, or a contract borrowed from another province. It feels fine until someone leaves on bad terms and the question becomes what they’re owed. Without clear, compliant terms, the answer is often a lot more than you expected.

We write agreements that set expectations from the start: the role, pay, probation, confidentiality and what happens if things end. Clear for your employee, and protective for your business.

What We Draft

From a single offer letter for your next hire to a full set of templates for every role you hire into, each agreement is written for your business and checked against Manitoba’s Employment Standards Code.

Employment Agreements

Full-time, part-time and fixed-term contracts covering duties, pay, hours, probation, benefits and termination, written in plain language.

Offer Letters

Clear offers that match the agreement that follows, so nothing promised in the excitement of hiring comes back to bite you later.

Confidentiality & Non-Solicitation

Practical protection for your client relationships and business information, drafted to be reasonable enough to actually hold up.

Contract Reviews & Updates

A review of the agreements you already use, flagging terms that fall below the Code, don’t say what you think they say, or no longer fit your business.

What A Good Agreement Covers

The terms that matter most when something goes wrong

Most disputes come down to a handful of clauses. These are the ones we spend the most time getting right.

Termination

Manitoba’s Code sets minimum notice from one week to eight weeks depending on service. A clearly drafted clause can set what you’ll owe. A vague one can leave you owing far more under common law.

Probation

Statutory notice doesn’t apply in the first 30 days. After that, a longer probation period only helps if it’s written properly, and it never removes the Code’s minimums.

Role, Pay & Hours

Clear duties, compensation, overtime treatment and reporting lines, so expectations are set before the first day instead of argued about later.

Vacation & Leaves

Entitlements at or above the Code, including at least two weeks of vacation, rising to three after five years of employment.

Confidentiality & Clients

Protection for your information and client relationships that a court is likely to respect, instead of a broad non-compete it may throw out.

Fixed-Term Contracts

When a contract ends at the end of its term, Code notice doesn’t apply. Early-termination terms still need to be spelled out clearly, or the remaining term can become the bill.

You can’t contract out of the minimums. Under section 4 of the Employment Standards Code, an agreement that gives an employee less than the Code requires is no defence, even if the employee signed it. We make sure every agreement starts from the legal floor and builds up from there.

Is This For You?

Most employers come to us right before a key hire, or right after a departure showed them their paperwork wasn’t doing its job.

This is a fit when…

You hire with an offer email or a handshake and no written agreement
Your contract template came from another province or the internet
You’re hiring a senior role or someone with access to key clients
A recent departure cost more than it should have
Your agreements haven’t been looked at in years

You may need someone else when…

You’re in an active dispute or wrongful dismissal claim (that’s a job for an employment lawyer, and we’re happy to work with yours)
You need a unionized collective agreement negotiated

Employment Agreements FAQ

Common questions, answered straight

What notice does an employer have to give in Manitoba?

Under section 61 of Manitoba’s Employment Standards Code, the minimum notice of termination (or pay in lieu) depends on length of service: one week for less than a year, two weeks for one to three years, four weeks for three to five years, six weeks for five to ten years, and eight weeks for ten years or more. No statutory notice is required in the first 30 days of employment. These are minimums. Without a clear termination clause, an employee may be entitled to more at common law.

Can an employment contract limit termination pay to the Code minimum?

It can, if the clause is clearly written and never provides less than the Code requires. Canadian courts presume an employee hired for an indefinite term is entitled to reasonable notice at common law, which is often well beyond the statutory minimum, unless the contract clearly says otherwise. Section 4 of the Code also makes any agreement for less than the Code’s minimums no defence. A vague or non-compliant clause can leave you owing far more than you planned.

Does a probation period mean we can let someone go without notice?

Only within limits. For non-union employees, the Code’s notice requirement doesn’t apply during the first 30 days of employment. After that, statutory notice applies even if your contract calls the first three or six months a probationary period. A probation clause can still help manage common-law notice, but only if it’s drafted clearly.

Are non-compete clauses enforceable in Manitoba?

Manitoba courts are reluctant to enforce non-compete clauses and generally only uphold restrictions that are reasonable and clearly necessary to protect the business. A bill to restrict non-competes has been introduced in the Manitoba Legislature but is not law. In most cases, well-drafted confidentiality and non-solicitation clauses are the more practical way to protect your clients and information.

How much notice does an employee have to give when they quit?

Under section 62.1 of the Code, an employee who resigns must give at least one week of notice if they’ve worked for you less than a year, and two weeks if they’ve worked for you a year or more. Your agreement can set out how resignations are handled, but it can’t take away an employee’s minimum entitlements.

Are your agreements legal advice?

No. We’re HR professionals led by CPHR-designated partners, not lawyers. We draft and review employment agreements built on Manitoba’s Employment Standards Code and current practice. For a legal opinion on a specific clause or a dispute, we’re happy to work alongside your employment lawyer.

Clear terms, from day one