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Employment Contracts

Older worker must sign severance agreement in order to claim OWBPA violation

08/01/2019
Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, employers are required to follow certain rules before getting employees to promise not to sue in exchange for receiving a severance payment. But merely presenting a severance offer that technically doesn’t meet those standards isn’t a separate legal wrong, as a recent case shows.

Work with IT to capture agreement to arbitrate

07/30/2019
Now that most hiring is handled electronically, it’s easier than ever to collect an employee’s acknowledgment that he agreed to the terms of an arbitration agreement.

Ensure each worker receives your arbitration agreement

07/02/2019
To bind workers to the terms of an arbitration agreement, employers must prove those workers actually received a copy.

Have attorney draft arbitration agreement

07/02/2019
If you’re interested in using arbitration as an alternative to costly and drawn-out litigation, you may be tempted to use a general, restrictive arbitration agreement for all states in which you have operations. That can be a big mistake if you also have employees in California.

Make returning worker sign arbitration agreement again

06/06/2019
If you use an arbitration agreement, and a worker quits only to be rehired later, make sure she signs and dates a fresh copy of the agreement. Otherwise, the earlier resignation will have ended the agreement.

Court: Unsigned arbitration agreement enforceable

06/06/2019
A California appeals court has upheld an arbitration agreement presented to employees as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition that implied their acceptance even if they didn’t sign it.

Take proactive steps to assert at-will status

06/06/2019
A former employee who contests a termination in court may overcome the at-will presumption by presenting some evidence that there was either a specific written agreement spelling out employment terms or an implied agreement that employment would continue for an indefinite period of time unless there was some good cause for termination.

Beware ‘back-door’ bias claims under Section 1981

05/31/2019
A growing number of employees are taking a back-door approach to filing racial bias suits, one with the potential for a bigger windfall.

Court ruling places new restrictions on noncompete agreements

05/06/2019
Texas courts frequently enforce geographic and other restrictions on a former employee’s ability to compete with his or her prior employer. A recent decision highlights the requirement that any such restrictions, including geographic restrictions, must be reasonable to be enforceable.

Arbitration agreements may not cover delivery drivers

04/30/2019
A California court has concluded that the Federal Arbitration Act, which makes the agreements enforceable, may not apply to delivery drivers engaged in interstate commerce.