Driver Employment Contract

What Is a Driver Employment Contract?

A driver employment contract is a legally binding agreement between an employer and a driver that defines the terms and conditions of employment. This document outlines the following essential elements:

• party details;
• driver’s responsibilities and duties;
• contract’s duration;
• establishment of a probation period (if any);
• salary amount and payment schedule;
• additional benefits; and
• termination of employment.

This driver employment contract sample could be customized for various driver roles:

• personal driver (i.e., a driver for personal or household use);
• truck driver (i.e., transportation of cargo for short or long distances);
• office or corporate driver (i.e., a driver that transports personnel or staff).

A driver employment contract is a special type of a general employment agreement.

Under an employment agreement, an employer hires a person to perform certain work according to the agreed schedule and under an employer’s supervision. In the case of a driver employment agreement, a company hires a driver (i.e., an employee) for work in exchange for regular remuneration and bonuses.

An employer could be an organization, for instance, a logistics company or any other type of business or organization. An employee under the employment agreement is always an individual.

How to Draft a Driver Employment Contract Template?

A well-drafted driver employment contract template must contain clear and concise provisions. The law does not define a mandatory list of clauses every contract template should have. Below we prepared the list of most essential ones a solid driver employment contract should include:

List of Duties

Every driver employment agreement template should define the responsibilities of the driver. These may include various tasks, like maintaining driving logs, ensuring cargo safety, and more. It is essential to understand that the list of duties varies depending on the driver’s type.

If you are creating a lorry driver employment contract template, the contract may oblige the driver to load and unload cargo. It may also include a driver’s responsibility to keep the cargo’s documentation safe. When drafting a personal driver contract of employment sample, parties need to think about punctuality and confidentiality clauses instead.

Safety and additional disclaimers

To be eligible for work, a driver has to comply with a number of conditions:

• be at least 18 years of age (or more depending on the state);
• held a valid driving license; and
• has a clean medical record upon request.

It is vital for every driver employment contract sample to include a driver’s consent to a GPS tracking clause. This clause allows an employer to track and monitor a driver’s route while they are on duty. Besides that, it also ensures the overall safety of a vehicle, as well as of cargo or passengers. If, however, a driver can use a working vehicle for personal purposes outside of working hours, in that case the GPS tracking clause should exclude those private trips from the monitoring.

Contract Duration and Termination

Same as for all other employment contracts, a driver employment contract could last for an indefinite or a fixed period of time. If a driver employment contract is concluded for a fixed period of time, it can last from a few months to a few years depending on the parties’ arrangement. A driver employment contract sample can also include an automatic prolongation clause. Under this clause a contract is being prolonged automatically after its end date for the same period of time.

Either party to the employment agreement shall have a right to terminate the contract at any time. In that case a prior written notice should be sent to another party. A notice period can be 15, 30, or 60 days. The longer parties work together, the longer a notice period usually should be.

A typical truck driver contract agreement sample gives an employer a right of immediate termination. This basically allows an employer at any time to end employment relationships with a driver. There is a hidden practicality behind such a clause. If the employer has reasonable grounds to believe that a vehicle or cargo might be at risk, the employer should be able to end the employment contract instantly.

Working Hours and Probation Period

Every driver employment contract template should include an expected number of working hours, shift rotations, and days off.

Besides that, a contract may also contain a standby clause. This clause basically means that a driver should remain available and ready to work during certain periods in a week or in a month. If the clause is included, in that case a driver employment contract should provide a special standby hourly rate.

Payment Terms

Every driver job agreement sample should include detailed information about the payment terms.

First, parties have to define the exact amount of remuneration. It could be an annual, monthly, or weekly salary. It all depends on the employer’s internal policies. The driver job agreement template should clearly define if the indicated salary is the gross (before taxes) or net (after taxes) amount.

Second is to determine the frequency with which payment should be made. Unlike in service agreements, a remuneration in employment relations should be paid regularly—per day, per week, or per month.

Finally, the parties should also agree on the acceptable payment methods, which are usually bank transfers.

Confidentiality Clause

Not all employment contracts with a driver may need inclusion of a confidentiality clause. For instance, for a truck driver employment agreement template that deals with a daily delivery of products within the city, this might not be essential.

A confidentiality clause for a personal driver contract of employment sample is a must.

A personal driver usually has access to a family’s sensitive information, including daily schedules, places for visits, names of children’s schools, etc. Therefore, protection of such information is important against its disclosure to third parties.

A driver undertakes to keep confidential all received information during the whole duration of a contract, as well as for some time after its termination. Usually a driver has to keep information confidential for between one and three years after the end of employment relations.

How to customize a contract template at Faster Draft?

To get your personalized office, family, or truck driver employment agreement template, follow a few easy steps below:

1. Click the button “Create Document.”
2. Answer simple questions in the questionnaire.
3. Select a document’s format—driver employment agreement PDF or Word.
4. Make a payment.
5. Download your customized legal document template in seconds.