What Type of Lawyer Helps With Employment Contracts?
A lawyer that helps with an employment contract is typically a legally trained employment specialist who helps individuals or businesses draft, review, negotiate, terminate, or enforce employment-related agreements. Any time a business wants to hire a new employee, they will typically provide an employment agreement for the employee to sign to formalize their working relationship.
Employment agreements typically cover things like compensation, job duties and role, benefits, and termination. Employers can also use employment contracts to entice potential employees by offering favorable terms.
If you need to sign an employment contract, it’s always a good idea to hire an employment contract lawyer to help you. The terms of these agreements can get tricky and without the right guidance, you could find yourself stuck in a job you don’t want.
On the flip side, if you’re an employer that needs to hire an employee, it is recommended to hire an employment lawyer to make sure the terms of your agreement are legal to best protect your business.
How Enforceable Are Employment Contracts?
The enforceability of an employment contract depends on many factors. As a general rule, employment contracts are legally binding agreements between employers and employees if signed and include terms that are legal under the law. Below are some common considerations any employment lawyer will think about regarding enforceability:
- Are the terms of the contract legal? If not, the contract (or a part of the contract) may be deemed as not legally enforceable.
- Are the terms clear and specific? If not, there may be arguments made related to the ambiguity of the terms to invalidate aspects of the agreement.
- Did both parties mutually consent to the agreement? If not and one party was forced to sign under duress, the agreement may not be enforceable.
- Is there something of value in exchange for the employees’ services? If not, the agreement may be considered unenforceable since contracts must have something of value exchanged.
What Does an Employment Contract Lawyer Do?
If you are an employee that receives an offer letter, an employment lawyer can help you review the contract to make sure the terms are legal and fair, as well as negotiate on your behalf with the potential employer.
If you are an employer needing to prepare an employment contract for a new hire, the lawyer can help you analyze the role and terms you will want to include in the agreement, as well as draft and prepare the contract to be provided to the employee. If any negotiations follow, they can help with those as well.
If you are an employer or employee that has been caught up in an employment-related dispute, an employment lawyer can help you analyze the contract that existed between the two parties and advise on the next best steps in handling the dispute.
Here are some other common types for employment agreements:
- Full-Time Employment Agreement
- Part-Time Employment Contract
- Executive Employment Contract
- Dental Associate Contract
- Physician Employment Contract
- Consulting agreement
- Freelance contract
- Independent contractor agreement
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Here are some real life examples of what types of details employment contracts include and how employment lawyers can help:
Compensation
Perhaps the most important thing an employment contract includes is information about your compensation. This portion of the agreement determines how often you will be paid, and how.
Typically, two different types of payments are most popular in employment contract agreements:
- Hourly pay
- Salaried pay
As the name suggests, hourly pay is paid by the hour at a set rate determined at signing. Salaried pay indicates that you will be paid a set, pre-determined amount for all the work you complete in a pay period. Other types of compensation include commission-based pay or performance-based pay.
This portion of the contract can also include information about how much raises are, how raises are calculated, and how they are communicated. If you’re looking to receive regular raises, the details must be included in this portion of the contract.
If you’re expecting overtime pay or pay for holidays, that should be included here too.
Employment contract lawyers are helpful because they can help you understand how the compensation clauses in your contract affect you. Additionally, they can assist in negotiating pay, benefits, and other areas of the compensation portion of your contract. The outcome of negotiations depends on various factors so consult with a lawyer if you have questions.
Vacation and Sick Time
Vacation and sick time are crucial parts of employment that determine how balanced your work and personal life are. When you advocate for a healthy work/life balance, you’re more likely to have the energy you need in your personal life.
Sick time ensures that you have an adequate number of hours each year to compensate for the time you are unable to come to work due to illness. Sick time varies depending on local laws and company policies. Consult with a lawyer to understand specific regulations and provisions in your state.
Vacation time ensures that when you need time to recharge, you don’t have to miss out on pay because you take time off work. Time off is just as important as time spent on the clock and greatly affects productivity and satisfaction in the workplace.
If your employment contract doesn’t include terms surrounding vacation or sick time, an employment lawyer can help advocate to get those items added in. They can also negotiate more hours a year for you if the number of hours offered isn’t satisfactory.
Benefits
The best workplaces care about their employees and want to take care of them. Benefits are one great way that they can make sure employees are in the best shape.
Some benefits that may be included in an employment contract are:
- Health insurance
- Dental benefits
- Eye coverage
- Extended leave
- Family leave
- Disability benefits
- Workers’ compensation
- Student loan payments
- Tuition reimbursement
Contract lawyers ensure the terms surrounding these areas are legally sound and beneficial for their clients. They can also negotiate better terms in these areas if needed.
After Termination Requirements
After employment is terminated, employers may have expectations of former employees outlined in the employment agreement. These post-termination requirements are legally binding, so if you don’t comply, you could get in serious legal trouble.
A severance agreement entails that when employment is ended, you may receive a lump-sum payment. This is intended to protect employers from being sued for wrongful termination if they choose to fire an employee. However, wrongful termination claims can still be filed if the employee believes the employer violated laws or the terms of the contract. Contact a lawyer about your specific case to learn more. If this type of clause is included in your contract, you would not be able to take legal action if you feel you were wrongly terminated. However, employers typically offer a cash payment to compensate you.
If this type of clause is included in your contract, you would not be able to take legal action if you feel you were wrongly terminated. However, employers typically offer a cash payment to compensate you.
A non-compete agreement entails that you would not be able to go to work for a different employer in the same industry as your previous one for a set amount of time. Enforceability of non-compete agreements vary depending on jurisdiction. Some states have restrictions on the scope and duration of non-compete agreements so talk with a lawyer about your particular agreement.
These clauses are meant to protect employers from losing good employees to competitors. It also helps ensure that previous employees don’t use their knowledge to help competitors.
Check out this article to learn more about employment contracts.
Common Fee Structures for Employment Lawyers
There are several different fee structures that employment lawyers use. Below are the two most common:
Hourly Rates
An employment lawyer may charge you an hourly rate to help with your project. This involves them setting an hourly rate, and billing hours as they complete work. Hourly rate engagements are generally good for projects where the time needed by the lawyer to complete the project is unknown. For example, if you hire a lawyer to review and negotiate on your behalf, the lawyer may require an hourly fee structure since the time it will take to negotiate is undefined.
One drawback to hourly rate fee structures is clients may end up with a legal bill that is larger than they expected.
Flat Fees
For many straightforward tasks, like drafting or reviewing an employment contract, a lawyer may opt to charge a flat fee rate. Given employment lawyers handle these types of projects daily, they have a good sense of the amount of time it will take to handle the project.
The benefit of a flat fee rate is the client knows exactly what they will pay before the project is started.
It’s important to talk to your employment contract lawyer about fee structure options to make sure you choose an option that works best for you.
How Much Do Employment Contracts Cost?
Hiring a lawyer to help with an employment contract can vary greatly in costs since no project is the same. Some things that impact cost are how complex the project is and the hourly rate of the lawyer, which is typically tied to their years of experience and their location.
Below is some real-life cost data [1] from ContractsCounsel’s marketplace:
- Employment Contract Projects (all): $480.00
- Employment Contract Review Projects: $440.00
- Employment Contract Drafting Projects: $700.00
See Employment Contract Pricing by State
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Should I Hire a Lawyer to Help with an Employment Contract?
It is always our recommendation to hire a professional legal counsel whenever dealing with employment-related issues. While it may seem easy to just sign a document or use a template found online for a new employee, employment transactions are typically large given the amount of compensation that may be spent on an employee or contractor over a given year. The employment practice is also highly litigious, meaning there are a lot of disputes that can occur. By hiring a lawyer, you are protecting yourself legally to avoid any headaches down the road.
If you do want to hire a lawyer, we would recommend posting a project in ContractsCounsel’s marketplace. We have a network of vetted employment lawyers to help with a variety of projects, and will provide you with competitive bids to review.
