Contracts and offer letters
Employment contracts, offer letters and contractor agreements written for the countries where your people work, then explained to the managers who use them.
Set of templatesfrom $450
Handbooks, hiring and the hard conversations
Fairground HR is the people team for companies of 10 to 250 staff that do not have one yet, or need more hands. We write the contracts and policies, guide managers through difficult cases and set up hiring that treats every candidate fairly.
10 to 250people in the teams we support
Same daycall back on urgent cases
Plain wordsin every policy
- Policies checked against local law
- Confidential from the first call
- Consultants who ran HR in house
- An advice line for managers
Where we take the weight
Fixed prices for documents and projects, hourly rates for casework. Every quote names the consultant who will do the work.
Employee handbook
The policies a growing team needs, from leave and hybrid working to conduct and complaints, written in plain words and fitted to how you really work.
Full handbookfrom $1,800
Disciplinary and grievance cases
A fair process from the first conversation: investigation plans, meeting outlines, notes and outcome letters, with a consultant beside the manager throughout.
Caseworkfrom $95 an hour
Hiring and onboarding
Job descriptions, structured interviews, scorecards and a first week plan, so every candidate is judged on the same evidence.
Hiring kitfrom $700
Performance and pay reviews (example reviews)
Review cycles, salary bands and promotion criteria that managers can explain and staff can see applied evenly.
Review frameworkfrom $1,200
Restructures and role changes
Consultation plans, selection criteria and letters for changes to roles or redundancies, following the steps the law sets where you employ people.
Projectfrom $2,500
Employment law differs between countries and often between states, provinces or regions. We are HR consultants, not lawyers, and we bring in a qualified employment lawyer whenever a case needs legal advice.
Monthly retainers
For companies that want an HR consultant on call without hiring one full time.
Starter
a month, from$390
For teams of up to 25 people.
- 4 consultant hours a month
- Advice line for managers
- Template library kept current
Growing
a month, from$890
For teams of 26 to 100 people.
- 10 consultant hours a month
- Casework support included
- Quarterly policy review
- A named consultant
Embedded
a month, from$1,950
For teams of 100 to 250 people.
- One day a week on site or online
- Hiring process run with you
- Annual review cycle managed
- Board updates on people risks
Unused hours roll over for one month. Extra hours are $95 each.
When a people issue lands on your desk
A complaint, a performance problem or an allegation needs a fair process from the very first conversation. We guide the manager step by step, run or support the investigation, draft the letters and make sure every person involved is heard and treated with respect.
- Call back the same working day
- Investigation plan within two working days
- Outcome letters drafted for you to send
- Employment lawyer brought in when the law needs one
How a handbook comes together
Discovery call
We learn how the company works today, what already exists and where each person is employed.
First draft
Each policy is written in plain words and checked against the employment law of every country involved.
Leaders review (example reviews)
Two rounds of comments with your leadership team, so the handbook says what you actually mean.
Launch
A short briefing for managers and a summary for staff, so the new rules are understood from day one.
Where the law decides and where you do
A rough guide we use in first meetings. The detail varies by country, state or region, and it changes over time.
| Topic | Often set by law | Usually your choice |
|---|---|---|
| Leave | Minimum paid holiday and some family leave | Extra days, carry over and how leave is booked |
| Working time | Maximum hours, rest breaks and overtime rules in some places | Core hours, hybrid days and flexibility |
| Ending employment | Notice periods, fair reasons and the process to follow | How managers raise concerns early |
| Pay | Minimum wage and equal pay rules | Salary bands, review dates and bonuses |
| Records | How employee data is stored, shared and kept | Which tools the team uses day to day |
Workshops, interviews and quiet rooms
Most of our work happens alongside your managers, in your office or on a video call.
From founders and managers (example reviews)
Fairground replaced years of patchy contracts in a month and briefed every manager on what had changed and why.
During a difficult grievance the consultant kept the process calm, fair and on time, and both people said they felt heard.
Interview scorecards changed how the restaurants hire. Candidates now get the same questions and an answer within a week.
Questions founders ask us first
Are you employment lawyers?
No, we are HR consultants. When a case needs legal advice, such as a claim or a dispute heading to a tribunal or court, we work alongside a qualified employment lawyer and tell you when that point has been reached.
Can you help with staff in more than one country?
Yes. Employment law differs between countries and often between regions inside them, so each policy is checked against the rules where each person works, with local specialists where we need them.
How quickly can you help with an urgent issue?
Call before 15:00 on a working day and a consultant calls back the same day. Investigations usually start within two working days.
Can you investigate a complaint about a senior leader?
Yes. A consultant with no earlier link to the people involved runs the investigation and reports to the person you name, so the process stays independent.
We already have an HR person. Can you still help?
Often that is the best setup. We take on projects, cover busy periods and give your HR lead a second opinion on difficult cases.
How do you charge?
Documents and projects have fixed prices, casework is charged by the hour and retainers are monthly. We invoice monthly, and you settle each invoice with us directly.
Is what we share kept confidential?
Yes, from the first call, whether or not we end up working together.
Book a call with a consultant
Tell us what is going on. A consultant replies within one working day to set up a 30 minute call, which costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- Confidential from the first message
- A named consultant, never a call centre
- Urgent? Call +1 555 0247
Find Fairground HR
Calls are answered by a consultant, never a switchboard.
Phone and email
Studio in the old mill building, working on site and by video
Hours
| Monday to Friday | 08:30 to 17:30 |
| Urgent cases | Call back same day |
| Weekends | Closed |
Where we work
Our studio is in the old mill building by the canal. Most of the work happens at clients' offices or on video calls, wherever the team is based.