Event Planner Employment Agreement

What a good one includes

• A detailed breakdown of the planner's responsibilities, including venue sourcing, budget management, client communication, and on-site day-of coordination.
• A clause outlining how work hours are tracked and compensated during peak event weeks, late nights, and weekends.
• A transparent breakdown of how booking commissions, upsell bonuses, or performance-based incentives are calculated and paid out.
• Strict confidentiality clauses that protect your agency's proprietary vendor networks, pricing sheets, and sensitive client information.
• A provision stating that all event designs, proposals, mood boards, and concepts created during employment belong to the agency, not the individual planner.
• Clear terms for how ongoing events and client accounts will be handed off if the planner leaves the company mid-project.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using a generic office-job contract that fails to account for the irregular, weekend-heavy working hours inherent to the events industry.
• Neglecting to clarify who owns the rights to event design photos and portfolio materials, leading to disputes over social media and marketing rights.
• Failing to define exactly how commissions are handled if an employee resigns or is terminated before an event actually takes place.
• Misclassifying a full-time coordinator as an independent contractor, which can lead to severe tax penalties and wage-and-hour audits.

Frequently asked questions