Reviewing employment contracts and offer letters carefully is always a good idea. Having your lawyer review them for you is an even better idea. Here’s why:
Increasingly, employers are asking new hires to sign employment contracts. These employment contracts are prepared by lawyers hired to protect the employer’s interests.
There is no such thing as a “standard” employment contract. Many employers try to include the same terms of employment in every contract, however, some of the clauses are often negotiable.
We have reviewed hundreds of employment contracts over the years. Some are fair; some are not. Lawyers at the MacLeod Law Firm can tell you which clauses in the contract are not fair in your circumstances and why.
If you wish, we can negotiate changes in the initial job offer on your behalf.
At the MacLeod Law Firm, we view every employee as a person first and recognize that every negotiation is different. Regardless of the situation, we consider these three issues:
The employee’s alternatives to accepting the job offer. These alternatives determine the person’s negotiating power. Does the person currently have a job? If not, does the employee have other job offers? In some cases, employees will turn down an offer and remain in their current job once they understand the terms of the offer. In other cases, employees use competing offers to improve an initial job offer.
Which issues may be negotiable. We have helped scores of employees negotiate enhanced job offers. This experience helps us identify which issues are likely open for discussion in any particular situation.
The employee’s obligations to his/her current employer. Unless there is a notice of resignation term in the employee’s current employment contract, the employee is generally required to provide reasonable notice of resignation. The employee may also have fiduciary or contractual duties which preclude them from soliciting customers for a reasonable period of time after resigning, among other such restrictions.
