# Contractor to employee playbook

> A playbook for a contractor or intern moving to an employee contract: the contract and payroll for HR, benefits before the deadline and a welcome.

Category: Onboarding and playbooks

Canonical: https://shuffl.ai/templates/becoming-permanent-playbook

## When to use it

Someone moving from a contract or internship to an employee role already knows the work. What changes is their paperwork, pay, benefits and how the team sees them.

This playbook starts the day the employee contract begins. HR moves the paperwork, the person picks benefits in time, and their manager marks the change.

## Move person to an employee contract

To HR, on the day they join.

```text
**Move {{hire}} to an employee contract**

- [ ] Issue the contract and written terms
- [ ] Move them to employee payroll
- [ ] Enrol them in benefits and tell them the deadline
- [ ] Update their employment type in People
```

## Welcome to the team, properly

To the person, on the day they join.

```text
**Welcome to the team, properly**

Your employee contract starts today. A few things to finish so your pay and benefits are right from the first payday.

- [ ] Sign your contract
- [ ] Choose your benefits before the deadline
```

## Mark person’s new contract

To their manager, on the day they join.

```text
**Mark {{hire}}’s new contract**

- [ ] Tell the team
- [ ] Agree goals for their next six months
```

## Your benefits

To the person, 14 days after the day they join.

```text
**Your benefits**

If you have not chosen your benefits yet, now is the time. Questions go to HR.

- [ ] Finish your benefits enrollment
```

## Checking in

To the person, 30 days after the day they join.

```text
**How is the new contract going, {{hire}}?**

If anything about your pay, benefits or paperwork is not right yet, say so and a named person from HR will follow up with you directly.
```

## How to adapt it

- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Check the benefits enrollment window starts on the contract date.
- Tell the team, so the change is visible, not only on paper.

## From contract to team

- **63.1%** of 2024-25 US interns were converted into full-time hires (NACE, 2026) [nace-conversion]
- **88.3%** of 2024-25 US interns offered a full-time job accepted it (NACE, 2026) [nace-conversion]

## What the research says

Internships and contracts are real hiring routes. Employers surveyed by NACE converted 63.1% of their 2024-25 interns into full-time hires, and 88.3% of interns offered a job accepted.[nace-conversion]

Those hires tend to stay. More than three-quarters of new hires who interned with the employer are still there after a year, compared with less than half of hires with no internship experience.[nace-retention]

## What the law requires

In the UK, changes to the written statement of employment particulars must be given to the employee within one month of the change.[govuk-written-statement] Check what each country requires when someone moves from a contract or internship to employment, including benefits eligibility.

## Common mistakes

- Treating it as paperwork only. Mark the change with the team.
- Missing the benefits window that opens on the contract date.
- Leaving their old contractor or intern details in People.
- Forgetting to agree new goals for an employee role.

## Common questions

**What changes when a contractor becomes an employee?**
Their contract and written terms, payroll and tax, benefits eligibility, and their employment type in your records. Tell the team too, so the change is visible.

**Do interns who are hired full time stay?**
NACE finds more than three-quarters of new hires who interned with the employer are still there after a year, compared with less than half of hires with no internship experience.

**Do you need a new written statement?**
In the UK, changes to the written statement of employment particulars must be given within one month of the change. A move to an employee contract usually means new written terms.

## Sources (read 2026-10-13)

- [nace-conversion] National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), “Intern Conversion Rate Hits Highest Mark in Five Years” (April 3, 2026): https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/internships/intern-conversion-rate-hits-highest-mark-in-five-years
- [nace-retention] National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), “Internship Program Retention Rates Underscore Long-term ROI” (May 14, 2026): https://naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/internships/internship-program-retention-rates-underscore-long-term-roi
- [govuk-written-statement] GOV.UK, “Employment contracts: Written statement of employment particulars” (No date stated; read October 2026): https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/written-statement-of-employment-particulars

## In Shuffl

Use in Shuffl: [New playbook](https://shuffl.ai/app/playbooks/all?create=1&template=becoming-permanent). Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.

Guide: [Playbooks for other moments](https://shuffl.ai/docs/playbooks#templates)

## Related terms

- [Employee benefits](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/employee-benefits)
- [Total compensation](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/total-compensation)
- [Onboarding](https://shuffl.ai/glossary/onboarding)

All templates: https://shuffl.ai/templates

Agent documentation index: https://shuffl.ai/llms.txt