Employment Contracts

Should we use arbitration agreements to help resolve employment disputes?

12/03/2013

In California, companies adopting arbitration agreements face a number of difficult decisions in crafting their agreements to ensure that they will be enforceable while also maximizing the benefits of arbitration.

Get expert help with arbitration agreements

12/03/2013

If there is an area of the law that remains confusing for employers, it’s arbitration agreements. Here’s the latest twist in the legal saga of what’s a good agreement and what’s not.

Check settlement agreements for precise ADEA language

12/02/2013

When an employee promises not to sue for age discrimination and accepts money in exchange for that promise, he can revoke that agreement unless it contains some very specific language. But the revocation can only apply to the age discrimination claims, not others. Those remain settled.

Don’t let handbook create a contract

11/27/2013

Here are two easy steps to prevent your employee handbook from turning into a binding contract.

Supreme Court to hear variety of employment-related cases

11/14/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases during the 2013-14 term that could affect employers.

When settlement requires confidentiality, tell everyone to keep lips sealed

11/12/2013

Settling a case early on can have advantages. One of these is that you can include a confidentiality clause that bars a former employee from talking about the case. Now a California court has said that such clauses are valid, meaning you can sue a former employee who breaks a confidentiality agreement.

When competition might come from within, keep employees honest

08/28/2013

It’s a situation that happens more often than you might think: An employer finds out that one of its employees is preparing to leave and set up her own shop. But is the employer handcuffed, unable to do anything about the upstart competitor because this employee didn’t sign a noncompetition agreement?

Warn bosses about personal liability risk

08/07/2013

Remind supervisors that the integrity of the performance evaluation process depends on their honest assessment. Providing anything less may mean a court date and personal liability under North Carolina law.

Company signature not required on arbitration agreement

08/07/2013

Most employers that use arbitration agreements require employees to sign them. If that’s your practice, don’t worry about getting the company’s “signature” on the dotted line. As long as the company can show it intends to be bound by the agreement, it is valid with just the employee’s signature.

EEOC seeks to block book company’s severance releases

07/30/2013

North Carolina-based national book distributor Baker & Taylor faces challenges to language in the release it includes in all its severance packages. The EEOC claims the release violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by forcing employees to sign “broad, misleading and unenforceable” agreements to receive severance pay.