The Employment Contract wizard walks you through everything needed to generate a compliant Canadian employment contract for your caregiver, step by step. Your answers also set up the payroll rules RoostPay uses to pay your caregiver.
1. Start the wizard
From Add a caregiver, tap Create a RoostPay Contract. RoostPay creates a new agreement and opens the wizard. The header shows Stage X of 5, with the stage name:
- Basics — province, employment type, and who you’re employing.
- The role — work authorization, children and duties, and the work schedule.
- Pay and leave — compensation through sick leave.
- Coverage and terms — mileage, workers’ compensation, deductions, benefits, and termination.
- Household and review — house rules, emergency contacts, and review.
There are still 20 steps inside those stages. At any point, tap Save Draft in the top-right corner. Once you choose a province, the draft is saved and appears in Household management with status Draft and the subtitle Continue this contract. Tap that row to pick up where you left off.
2. Move through the steps
Each step has its own fields, plus Back and Next buttons at the bottom. The 20 steps are:
- Province or Territory of Employment — employment standards are set by province or territory, so select where the work will be performed. Pick the province from the list. The optional compliance profile sits under Advanced: compliance profile (optional).
- Employment Type
- Employee & Job Info — who you’re employing.
- Work Authorization — this choice is written into the contract, including work-permit contingency language if applicable. RoostPay records it for your files and does not verify immigration status.
- Children & Duties
- Work Schedule
- Compensation — hourly rate, pay structure, and pay frequency (Weekly, Bi-weekly, or Semi-monthly).
- Weekly: Your employment start date anchors the weekly cycle: that weekday is the start of every 7-day pay period.
- Bi-weekly: The employment start weekday anchors every 14-day pay period.
- Semi-monthly: Periods use day-of-month anchors (for example the 1st and 16th).
- Note: pay structure “Weekly salary” (how the rate is stated) is unrelated to pay frequency “Weekly” (how often you pay).
- Overtime — statutory overtime for the province. In British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba you can also turn on Hours averaging (see Hours Averaging). Prince Edward Island overtime starts after 44 hours in a week.
- Vacation
- Statutory Holidays — choose how a worked statutory holiday is paid. Payroll follows this choice. Statutory holiday pay + 1.5× is the usual selection: qualifying caregivers receive the statutory holiday amount whether or not they work, and hours worked that day are paid at 1.5×. Substitute day off + 1.5× pay pays hours worked at 1.5× and also gives a paid substitute day. Statutory holiday pay + 2× is a greater benefit than the provincial minimum. Base entitlement still comes from provincial employment standards.
- Sick Leave
- Mileage & Expenses
- Workers’ Compensation
- Payroll Deductions — CPP, EI, and federal/provincial income tax are mandatory; additional deductions require your employee’s written consent.
- Additional Benefits — optional benefits beyond what the law requires.
- Termination Notice
- Standard Clauses — protective clauses recommended for all contracts.
- House Rules — only the rules you select appear in the contract.
- Emergency & Medical
- Review & Sign
3. Review and sign the contract
On the final step, Review & Sign, RoostPay shows a summary of your key selections — employee, province/territory, employment type, job title, start date, pay rate, pay frequency, vacation, and termination notice. Tap Edit next to any line to jump back to that step and make a change.
- Confirm everything looks correct.
- Tap Continue to sign.
RoostPay generates the contract text and opens the same Review & Sign screen your caregiver will use. You sign first; after your signature is recorded, RoostPay invites your caregiver to review and sign. See Signing a Contract as the Employer for that step.
Edge cases
- Select a province to continue: shown if you try to save a draft or generate a contract without a province selected.
- Your signature was recorded, but the caregiver invite failed: your e-signature is already saved. Resend the invite later from Household management.
- If you leave the wizard after a province is chosen, the draft stays in Household management. Tap the Draft row (Continue this contract.) to resume. Leaving Review & Sign before you finish your signature keeps that draft — return and tap Continue to sign again.