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Employment Contracts

Review severance pact for clarity; define ‘for cause’ terminations

06/01/2005
Many employers offer severance to soften the blow of terminations and to buy a little insurance against lawsuits. But for those agreements to be enforceable, it’s important that you define the …

Prevent the damage from employee defections

06/01/2005
Issue: How to stop employees from disclosing confidential data, or jumping to a competitor and stealing your employees.
Benefit: You can stop defectors from raiding your business, but only if …

Arbitration agreements: Draft legal pact to stay out of court

05/01/2005
THE LAW. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a less costly way of resolving employment conflicts than going to court Also, good ADR programs often end up being a more peaceful forum …

Can you limit employees’ time to file suit?

03/01/2005
An employee’s ability to sue your organization expires at different times under various employment laws. For example, in most states, employees can file sexual harassment lawsuits within 300 days of the …

The new risks of premature job offers

02/01/2005
Rescinding job offers just got more legally dangerous. As incredible as it sounds, if you pull the rug out from a candidate’s job offer, the person may be able to sue …

Revamp employment contracts to account for new tax rules

02/01/2005
Issue: A new IRS ruling says signing bonuses and early-termination payments are considered taxable wages.
Risk: Overlooking that decision can trigger compensation problems or IRS penalties.
Action: Take this …

You’re not required to give reservists a post-duty rest period

01/01/2005
If you have military reservists on staff, you can call them to work right after they return from their weekend duty or other service obligations. Contrary to what you may have …

Temps can no longer bargain alongside regular employees

01/01/2005
Good news for employers: A new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling makes it much more difficult for temporary employees to join the same union as the organization’s permanent employees.
…

Use ‘restrictive covenants’ to limit damage from staff defectors

01/01/2005
You were annoyed last week when your company’s sales manager quit. He’d been in that job for 15 years and didn’t give any notice. But today, four of your best sales …

Make legally smart job offers; avoid ‘implied’ contracts

01/01/2005
Issue: Legal problems that stem from inadvertent comments at the job-offer stage.
Risk: Imprecise wording of an offer could lock you into an ‘implied contract’ with the employee.
Action: …