The Basic and Advanced Document Template Editors have now been decommissioned and superseded by the Doc Studio as of 13 August 2026. The Basic and Advanced Document Template Editors are still able to be used in Employment Hero, however these will not be receiving feature updates.
Having clear and well-crafted HR documents ensures a streamlined signing process throughout your organisation. It is therefore crucial to utilise an efficient template editor.
This article discusses the template editor feature, its template types, and how Employment Hero can reduce the data entry needed in the template creation process. It also explains some essential template terminology and guides you through how to set up a sending signatory to help process your generated HR documents.
Template types
The template type you select determines which users can sign the documents you send out.
The template types and the signatories they apply to are shown in the table below.
|
|
Signatory type |
|
Single signatory (meaning only the sender) |
|
Employee contracts |
Dual signatories (the sender, then the recipient) |
|
Contractor contracts |
Dual signatories (the sender, then the recipient) |
|
Other HR documents |
Dual signatories (the sender, then the recipient) |
| Policies |
Note: Policy documents are manageable in the Policy feature. |
|
Knowledge base |
Non-applicable: no signature required |
|
Factsheets |
Non-applicable: no signature required |
Key terms in creating templates
When creating a template using the basic editor, your organisation can upload a PDF document to Employment Hero.
While you cannot clone any existing content to use as a base template, you can use our 'Dynamic fields' and 'Employee fields' to add individualised, auto-filled data points to your downloaded PDF.
This ensures both you and the authorised signatory have a streamlined process that requires limited data entry.
To explain the process in more detail, below are more specific explanations of dynamic fields, employee fields, and the authorising signatory and its associated feature on Employment Hero.
Dynamic fields allow you to add a dropdown field, as well as 'Text' and 'Data' fields so that you can tailor what information you would like these fields to contain in your PDF.
For example, the 'Text' field can be used to specify if an employee is fully remote or in a hybrid role, and the 'Data' field can be used to specify the date from which a contract will take effect.
Employee fields allow your PDF to include individualised, employee-specific data (e.g. a staff member's address) that does not have to be entered manually.
This is because Employment Hero pulls data from each employee's personnel file and automatically fills the PDF accordingly. This ensures a streamlined process with reduced data entry before the PDF has to be sent to the relevant staff members.
An authorised signatory is the person who has the right to sign off on employee contracts and HR documents within your organisation. This person is the one responsible for reviewing the content, ensuring the information is correct, signing the document, and ultimately sending it onto the intended recipient.
Employment Hero's Authorising Signatory feature lets you assign the role of authorising signatory to various members of your organisation. The platform also allows you to assign employees with sending authority. This means that these employees can sign contracts on behalf of the authorising signatory.
More information on the Authorising Signatory feature is available at this article.
Important
Only one user can store their digital signature on Employment Hero.
Assign and establish a sending signatory
The above information covers key parts of HR templates: the forms fields, signatories, and the ability to assign other authorising signatories.
This section explains the workflow needed for a manager to assign a sending signatory and have that assigned signatory confirm and finalise the process by using Employment Hero's HR Documents feature.
Helpful Hint
Assigning a sending signatory by using the Sending signatory feature is especially useful if your organisation would prefer managers to sign off on employee contracts rather than the CEO.
- In the Sending Authority drop-down, select the required employee.
- Complete the rest of the contract as normal.
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The assigned sending authority will now receive an email from no-reply@employmenthero.com called Document requires your signature.
Helpful Hint
Now that you have assigned the sending authority now assigned, the next steps show what that assigned sending authority needs to do for you to obtain them.
- In the Document requires your signature email, the assigned sending authority clicks the email's here button to take them to the contract.
- The assigned sending authority reviews the contract and has approval granted.
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The assigned sending authority signs the contract in the Signature field.
Helpful Hint
The assigned sending authority can click the Upload button to import their existing signature pad. The recommended size for your upload is 300 by 100 pixels.
- The sending authority clicks the Sign and Accept button.