A fixed term contract is an employment contract with an end date or an end event written in, and the drafting question is what ends with it. The role and the pay end; the handbook's obligations during the term do not differ from a permanent hire's; early termination by either side is stated with its notice; renewal is stated as a new agreement rather than an assumption. The employee contract tool on this site prints the contract from your terms, free and without an account; the paid product keeps it against the employee with its end date and the reminder.
The end
A date, or an event such as the end of a project or the return of the person covered, stated exactly. The contract says what happens at the end: employment ends without further notice, or notice is still required, as the employer chooses and the state allows.
During the term
The same handbook, the same policies, the same reviews, the same overtime rule for non-exempt staff on the DOL page cited below. A fixed term is about the end, not about a lesser set of obligations in between. The onboarding checklist on this site applies in full.
Early termination and renewal
Whether either side can end the contract before the date, on what notice, and whether pay to the end date is owed. Renewal as a new written agreement with a new end date, never by silence, because a fixed term that drifts becomes a permanent contract with a confused record.
The record
The contract with its end date, the reminder before it, and the renewal or the exit documented. HeadcountDesk Pro keeps it; the contract tool prints it. From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: Homebase lists its Essentials plan at $30 per location per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with unlimited employees, and a Basic plan at $0 for one location with up to 10 employees; BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month for Core and $17 for Pro; Deputy's Core plan is $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 per month per location.
Questions people ask about fixed term contract
Can a fixed term contract be ended early?
If the contract says so and on the notice it states; an adviser answers the state's rules.
Does a fixed term hire get PTO?
As the handbook's policy provides, from the start date; the contract refers to the policy.
Is the contract tool free?
Yes, without an account.