Is there anywhere to get help with employment contracts?

I have an uncle who is an employment lawyer. I go to him when I have questions. People on the internet are obsessed with edge cases. “I once had a former employer come after me for X” might be a true story (or might be exaggerated) but you don’t hear from the thousand other people who never had that issue. A good lawyer can look at a contract and tell you the legality and enforceability but also things like “yeah they can technically get you there but it’ll cost them dollars on the penny to sue you so don’t worry too much about it “. Basically let you understand the risks you are taking.

So if you are very worried, I recommend dishing out a few hundred dollars to talk to a lawyer. Call a few... sometimes they’ll give quick advice for free.

Side note, I am very curious what these new clauses are!

I've never had a problem crossing stuff out.

This was an email I sent to a company I wound up working for after we (my lawyer and I) changed their 9 page "standard contract":

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Hi guys,

Who signs these “standard contracts”?

4.2. In the event the Provider is in breach of any of the representations or warranties set forth in Section 4.1 above, in addition to any other remedies ZZZ may have under this Agreement, ZZZ, at its sole option and without incurring any liability, may: (d) Recover any and all actual, incidental and consequential damages to ZZZ, including but not limited to actual or estimated loss of profits and sales and costs to cover, attorney’s fees and costs;

Nice try but yeah, no. ;-)

If I can strike out the unreasonable parts we can probably come to some agreement.

-Chris

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In case you didn't read it, it was this is what was outrageous:

including but not limited to actual or estimated loss of profits and sales and costs to cover, attorney’s fees and costs

You can ask an employment lawyer if you want to know what is actually enforceable after signing. But you can also just object to any terms in the contract that you think are going too far and you can negotiate with your company to remove them before signing. Whether the terms are potentially legal or not if signed doesn't always matter. It's usually easier to just not to sign anything that says you have to do something that you don't want to do.

For example, some jurisdictions say it is legal for an employer to write a contract that says they own anything you do in your spare time outside of work (US New York) but others set firmer limits on what the company can legally claim (US California). But in either case, you can just refuse to agree to it and negotiate better terms before signing.

If your spideysense is tingling about new clauses, talk to an employment lawyer (or a union if you are a member of one) in the jurisdiction that you live in. That's really the only way to get valid legal advice, and you want to understand what these clauses mean from a legal perspective. Usually they're written in legalese and the defined meaning of something in legalese tends to be a bit different from the coloquial meaning.

Also, don't forget that even if some of the clauses they're trying to impose on you may not be legal or enforceable where you live and work, it usually takes a court to make that determination. So it's a matter of understanding what the impact of these new clauses is and what risks you take by accepting them.

And please, please don't accept the "oh, but we're never going to enforce those clauses". You don't want to be the first person they get enforced against. If the employer comes back with that statement, ask them to take out the offending clauses.

Its rather simple really.

Question: Are you willing to post the entire employment contract unredacted on the internet (or email it to some John Doe you don't know) ?

Yes ? Fine. Maybe you might get some reasonable ideas.

No ? Well, go see a lawyer. Since anyone offering you advice without sight of the unredacted document is simply talking out of their backside and taking guesses in the dark.

Post your questions over there: https://workplace.stackexchange.com

But remember: You won't get legal advice there.

Invest in a good attorney who specializes in employment. Don’t use a generalist attorney because they won’t be familiar with the nuances of employment contracts or the specifics to your jurisdiction. $700/hour may sting momentarily, but it’s peanuts in the long run. They also may be able to help you negotiate better salary, equity, terms, etc. A good one will be able to give you a sense of how they can help you and the general cost before you engage. Don’t just sign the updated contract (especially if you just relocated from California to a new state).

Where in the world are you? Can you join a union? Many of them offer free/very cheap legal advice on employment matters.

Where are you located? I usually bring new clauses and other legal workplace related questions to my union here in Denmark.

My company lists a law firm as a benefit in the fine print sort of like how most phone carrier contracts come with road side service for some reason ( I think it’s because a lot of us end up divorced).

I would check and see, you may have a legal team already on tap.

A lawyer is the best idea -- they deal with these things every day. Once upon a time, I received advice from trusted non-lawyers and ended up in a very bad situation. Since then, I have passed most contracts by lawyers first.

Lawyer. Lawyer. Lawyer.

If you have questions about your employment contract, spend a few bucks for an hour or two of legal consult who knows the laws in your jurisdiction.

If you have real questions, this is the (long term) inexpensive way to get things answered.

If you want specific legal advice there really isn't a substitute for asking a lawyer.

I am happy to live in Sweden where work contracts are one page of simple language

/r/legaladvice

Which country are you in?