industry-guides
Security company employment contracts: employer guide
Draft security employment contracts covering SIA licensing, sites, shifts, patrols, body-worn video, incidents and client instructions.
Security work can involve licensed activity, client sites, nights, lone patrols, conflict and sensitive information. Contracts must identify the true employer and core commitments, while assignment instructions deal with the hazards and procedures at each site.
Identify the role and licence requirements
Describe whether the employee performs guarding, door supervision, CCTV monitoring, keyholding, mobile patrol or another function. State any SIA licence category required and the employee's duty to maintain it, report restrictions and cooperate with lawful checks.
Loss or suspension of a licence should trigger investigation and consideration of alternatives, not an automatic assumption that dismissal is fair. Record renewal dates and contact employees early. The employer should verify the licence independently rather than relying only on a card copy.
Give day-one particulars covering the employer, role, start date, pay, hours, holiday, work location, probation, training and notice.
Sites, assignments and client instructions
Set a normal base or reasonable assignment area. Explain how sites are allocated, notice, travel, mileage and what happens when a client contract ends. Avoid promising permanent placement at one site if assignments genuinely rotate, but do not use unlimited mobility wording.
Employees should follow lawful client-site instructions within their role. Provide an escalation route for conflicting, unsafe or inappropriate demands. The security employer remains responsible for pay, discipline, training and employment decisions.
When a service contract transfers, TUPE may apply. Assess it before dismissing, reallocating or changing terms connected with the transfer.
Shifts, breaks and working time
State guaranteed or normal hours, rota notice, nights, weekends, overtime and absence cover. Security shifts can be long, but working-time, rest and fatigue risks must be managed. If an opt-out is used, it must be voluntary and does not remove health-and-safety duties.
Explain whether breaks are paid and whether the employee must remain available. Record handovers, required briefings, travel between sites and incident-report completion as working time where applicable.
Safety, incidents and use of force
Provide risk assessments, assignment instructions, emergency contacts and conflict-management training. Employees should understand their authority and limits. A contract should never imply a general power to use force or transfer legal responsibility to the individual.
Set procedures for arrest, ejection, searching, safeguarding, first aid, violence, weapons and police contact as relevant. Incidents must be reported promptly and evidence preserved. Support employees after traumatic events and consider occupational-health input.
Monitoring, body-worn video and confidentiality
Body-worn video, CCTV, tracking and control-room recordings process personal data. Identify lawful purposes, activation rules, retention, access and disclosure. Train employees to explain recording where required and report device loss or misuse.
Confidentiality provisions can protect access codes, patrol routes, vulnerabilities, client records and incident information. They must not prevent protected whistleblowing or lawful reporting.
Pay, equipment and deductions
State the rate, pay cycle, overtime and premiums. Account for mandatory training, briefings and equipment collection in minimum-wage calculations. Uniform or licence-cost deductions need a lawful basis and can affect minimum-wage compliance.
Record issue of radios, keys, passes, cameras, PPE and vehicles. Investigate loss or damage fairly; avoid automatic deductions for every incident.
Security onboarding checklist
Supervision must continue after deployment. Use scheduled welfare contact, incident review, refresher training and site audits. A guard working nights at a remote location should not receive less employment support simply because a client reports no complaints. Check fatigue, equipment, access, lone-work controls and whether assignment instructions still match the site.
When a client requests removal of an employee, investigate rather than treating the request as a dismissal instruction. Ask for the reason and evidence, give the employee a fair opportunity to respond, consider another assignment and check for discriminatory or retaliatory motives. The client relationship does not remove the security employer's duty to make a lawful employment decision.
- verify identity, right to work and the relevant SIA licence;
- issue employment terms and role boundaries;
- state assignment area, travel and rota arrangements;
- complete site, lone-work and conflict training;
- issue and record equipment;
- explain incident, safeguarding and whistleblowing routes;
- diarise licence, probation and refresher reviews.
Build a security employment contract tailored to the licensed role and assignment pattern. Pair it with operational assignment instructions and a privacy-compliant handbook.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Obtain specialist advice on licensing, use of force, TUPE, surveillance or high-risk dismissal.
