diff --git a/src/app/api/employees/route.ts b/src/app/api/employees/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20683fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/employees/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import { auth } from "@/auth";
+import { createEmployee, listEmployees, validateCreateEmployeeInput } from "@/lib/employees";
+
+// middleware.ts's config.matcher deliberately excludes /api from route
+// protection (see its comment) — API routes verify the session themselves,
+// here, rather than relying on middleware alone. Permission model is flat
+// (CLAUDE.md): this only checks "logged in or not", no role/permission
+// check. Mirrors src/app/api/requests/route.ts's pattern.
+export async function POST(request: Request): Promise<NextResponse> {
+  const session = await auth();
+  if (!session) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Unauthorized" }, { status: 401 });
+  }
+
+  let body: unknown;
+  try {
+    body = await request.json();
+  } catch {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Request body must be valid JSON" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  if (typeof body !== "object" || body === null) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Request body must be a JSON object" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  const { name, department, managerId } = body as Record<string, unknown>;
+  const validation = validateCreateEmployeeInput({ name, department, managerId });
+
+  if (!validation.ok) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: validation.error }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  const created = await createEmployee(validation.value);
+  if (!created.ok) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: created.error }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  return NextResponse.json(created.value, { status: 201 });
+}
+
+export async function GET(): Promise<NextResponse> {
+  const session = await auth();
+  if (!session) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Unauthorized" }, { status: 401 });
+  }
+
+  const employees = await listEmployees();
+  return NextResponse.json(employees, { status: 200 });
+}