Translate an employment contract into English

Employment law terms that have no English twin

Employment contracts are written against a national labour code, and many of their key terms describe arrangements that do not exist in the UK or the US. A literal rendering confuses the reader; a familiar English equivalent can suggest a different legal regime. The safest approach is an English equivalent with the original term kept at first mention.

• Open-ended contracts (French CDI, German unbefristeter Arbeitsvertrag, Spanish contrato indefinido): permanent employment contract, never at-will employment, a US concept that would misstate the dismissal rules.
• Fixed-term contracts: fixed-term contract, with the end date or triggering event spelt out.
• Probation and notice: probationary period and notice period, with durations exactly as in the source.
• Collective agreements (convention collective, Tarifvertrag, convenio colectivo): collective agreement, followed by its official name in the original language.

Day counts are a recurring trap. French contracts distinguish jours ouvrés (days actually worked) from jours ouvrables (Monday to Saturday); both tend to become working days, although 25 of one equal 30 of the other. The translation has to keep that distinction visible.

Figures, dates and the choice of English

Pay and duration clauses carry the highest risk because writing conventions change:

• Amounts: continental 3.200,50 € or 3 200,50 € becomes €3,200.50. The comma turns into a thousands separator, so a misread figure is off by a factor of a thousand.
• Gross and net: keep gross or net explicit in every figure.
• Dates: 01/09/2025 is 1 September in Britain and 9 January in the US. Write the month in words: 1 September 2025 (British) or September 1, 2025 (American).
• Variant: British English uses Labour Code, holiday and annual leave; American English Labor Code and vacation. Pick one according to the reader and keep it throughout.

English text usually runs 10 to 15% shorter than French and other Romance languages. Clauses move up the page, so the signature block may land on a different page from the original.

What the English version is worth

Many countries require an employment contract for local work to exist in the local language. In France, for instance, the contract must be in French; a foreign employee may ask for a translation into their own language, and where the versions differ, only the employee's version can be relied on against them (Article L. 1221-3 of the French Labour Code). An error in the English text handed to an English-speaking employee is therefore more than a matter of style.

In other situations (a seconded employee, a foreign subsidiary, an international HR team), the English version is a working document; the signed original remains the reference.

If an embassy, immigration service or court asks for a certified translation, Manuce is not the right tool: it does not produce sworn or certified translations.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

The contract goes to Thémis, Manuce's engine for legal texts. A typical employment contract of about 3,500 words, roughly 9 pages, is delivered in minutes.

• The file comes back in its original format: Word stays Word, PDF stays PDF, with clause numbering, salary tables and layout preserved.
• Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF and CSV.
• Files are kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text), which is often what a signed and scanned contract is.
• It does not produce certified translations.
• It translates the contract; it does not adapt it to UK or US law or give legal advice.

For a version handed to an employee, the Professional level is designed to be passed on; Premium adds a cross-review.

Preparing the file and checking the result

Before uploading:

• Use the Word file or a PDF exported from your word processor, not the scan of the signed copy.
• Remove what the reader does not need, such as a national insurance or social security number or a home address.
• Make sure amounts and dates are real text, not pasted images.

When you read the free extract, then the full document, check:

1. how open-ended contract, collective agreement and notice are rendered, and that they stay consistent from clause to clause;
2. every amount, with gross or net;
3. durations: a one-month notice period must not become four weeks, and plurals follow the number (1 month, 3 months);
4. statutory references such as L. 1237-19 or § 622 BGB, which must remain untouched;
5. capitalised defined terms, the Employer and the Employee, used the same way throughout.

In practice

1. Export the contract as a Word file or text-based PDF, not a scan.
2. Upload it: the quote appears instantly, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free extract and check how the employment law terms are rendered.
4. Choose your level, pay and download the English contract in its original format.
5. Check amounts, dates, durations and statutory references before passing it on.