Written employment contract or statement of terms, by country
Most of these statutes make the employer put the main terms of the job in writing, but they differ in what exactly must be written and when. Norway requires a written contract in every employment within seven days (immediately for jobs under a month), the UK requires a single written statement no later than the first day, and the Netherlands splits the deadline between one week and one month. Spain lets a contract be oral and demands writing only for listed types, Japan requires the conditions to be stated without saying in the statute text that they be on paper, and France, in the ingested text, demands writing only for fixed-term contracts.
| Country | What the employer must give | Deadline | Terms the statute lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | A written record of the essential rights and duties (salaried employees) | On conclusion of the contract | Set by section 2 of the AVRAG, which is not ingested |
| Spain | Contract may be oral; writing is required for listed types, and a written notice of essential terms for relationships over four weeks | Notice of essential terms: as set by regulation | The essential elements of the contract and the main conditions of the work |
| France | Fixed-term contracts must be in writing; no general rule for other contracts in the ingested text | For fixed-term contracts: reason, end date, job, pay, collective agreement, trial period | |
| Japan | Wages, working hours and other conditions must be stated explicitly; the method is set by ministerial order | When the labour contract is concluded | Wages, working hours and other working conditions |
| Netherlands | A signed written or electronic statement of terms | Key terms within one week of starting work, the rest within one month | Parties, workplace, job, start date, pay, hours, holiday, notice procedure, probation, pension |
| Norway | A written employment contract in every employment | At the latest 7 days after the start (over one month); immediately if shorter than one month | Set by § 14-6, which is not quoted here |
| United Kingdom | A written statement of particulars, in a single document | Not later than the beginning of the employment | Names, start date, pay, hours, holiday, sick pay, pensions, notice, job title, probation, training |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Angestelltengesetz Art. 1 § 6 (3)
- The quoted provision covers salaried employees (Angestellte). The list of required terms sits in § 2 AVRAG, which is not among the ingested acts, so it is not summarised here.
- ABGB § 1164a separately requires a written Dienstzettel for freelance-type service relationships (freie Dienstverhältnisse), handed over without delay after the start.
Dem Angestellten ist bei Abschluß des Dienstvertrages vom Dienstgeber eine schriftliche Aufzeichnung über die wesentlichen Rechte und Pflichten aus dem Dienstvertrag auszuhändigen hat der Dienstgeber dem freien Dienstnehmer unverzüglich nach dessen Beginn eine schriftliche Aufzeichnung über die wesentlichen Rechte und Pflichten aus dem freien Dienstvertrag (Dienstzettel) auszuhändigen Spain
- Rule
- Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 8
- A contract may be made in writing or orally, but part-time, fixed-discontinuous, relief, training and work-experience contracts, and fixed-term contracts longer than four weeks, must be in writing. If the written form is missing, the contract is presumed to be open-ended and full-time unless proved otherwise.
- Either party can demand that the contract be put in writing, even during the employment. The written notice of essential terms is not needed where those terms are already in a written contract.
El contrato de trabajo se podrá celebrar por escrito o de palabra.también constarán por escrito los contratos por tiempo determinado cuya duración sea superior a cuatro semanasCuando la relación laboral sea de duración superior a cuatro semanas, el empresario deberá informar por escrito al trabajador, en los términos y plazos que se establezcan reglamentariamente, sobre los elementos esenciales del contrato y las principales condiciones de ejecución de la prestación laboral France
- Rule
- Code du travail L1242-12 and L1221-3
- Covers fixed-term contracts (CDD). Without a written contract it is treated as open-ended. L1221-3 only says that a contract made in writing is drafted in French; it does not itself require writing, and no ingested article states a deadline.
Le contrat de travail à durée déterminée est établi par écrit et comporte la définition précise de son motif.A défaut, il est réputé conclu pour une durée indéterminée.Le montant de la rémunération et de ses différentes composantesLa durée de la période d'essai éventuellement prévue Le contrat de travail établi par écrit est rédigé en français. Japan
- Rule
- 労働基準法 第15条
- The statute text says the conditions must be made explicit, and that wages and working hours must be stated by a method set by ordinance; the ordinance is not ingested, so whether paper is required is not stated here.
- If the stated conditions differ from the facts, the worker may cancel the contract immediately.
使用者は、労働契約の締結に際し、労働者に対して賃金、労働時間その他の労働条件を明示しなければならない。労働者は、即時に労働契約を解除することができる Netherlands
- Rule
- BW 7 art. 655
- Applies to every employer-employee relationship under the arbeidsovereenkomst rules. Terms already in a written contract need not be repeated, and some can be given by reference to a collective agreement.
- An employer who refuses to give the statement, or gives wrong information, is liable for the damage this causes the employee.
De werkgever is verplicht aan de werknemer een schriftelijke of elektronische opgave te verstrekkenuiterlijk een week na aanvang van de werkzaamheden en de overige in lid 1 bedoelde gegevens binnen een maand na aanvangde procedure, met inbegrip van de vereisten en de opzegtermijnenis jegens de werknemer aansprakelijk voor de daardoor veroorzaakte schade Norway
- Rule
- Arbeidsmiljøloven § 14-5
- Applies to all employment relationships, including hired-out labour, which needs a written contract immediately. The employer drafts the contract and the employee may be assisted by a representative.
Det skal inngås skriftlig arbeidsavtale i alle arbeidsforhold.senest sju dager etter at arbeidsforholdet begynteskal det umiddelbart inngås skriftlig arbeidsavtale United Kingdom
- Rule
- Employment Rights Act 1996 s 1
- Applies to workers from the first day. Some particulars may be given in instalments under section 2, which is not quoted here.
the employer shall give to the worker a written statement of particulars of employmentthe statement must be given not later than the beginning of the employmentthe scale or rate of remuneration or the method of calculating remunerationthe length of notice which the worker is obliged to give and entitled to receive to terminate his contract of employment Countries not in this table yet
Germany, Sweden, Australia and Canada are left out because the statutes that carry this rule (the German Nachweisgesetz, the Swedish anställningsavtal rules, the Ontario Employment Standards Act) are not ingested. The United States has no federal statute among the ingested acts.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
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LawAsked, “Written employment contract or statement of terms, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/written-employment-contract (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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