Home Q&A Forum What is fixed term employment contract?

Employment

Employment Contract

California

Asked on Oct 4, 2022

What is fixed term employment contract?

I have been given a contract that says 'Fixed Term Employment Contract'. How is this different than a normal employment contract? Is there anything I need to consider before signing this?

Answers from 2 Lawyers

Answer

Employment

California

Answered 1286 days ago

Generally a fix term employment contract differs from a genera employment contract in that it has an end date. For example, at-will contracts continue until you are fired or quit, while a fixed term contract only continues until the term expires. The main points to look at would be what they are classifying you as (employee vs contractor), the length of the term (so you know when the contract is up), and how to renew the contract or if there is an automatic renewal. It would also be good to double check the contract for termination clauses, as quitting may be more complicated under a fixed term contract. Ultimately, as with all contract matters it’s probably best to reach out to an attorney to review the document to get more specific answers to your concerns.

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Answer

Business

California

Answered 1286 days ago

This is an agreement that has a fixed amount of years which is agreed to by the employer and the employee. These types of agreements usually have a term of say 1, 2, or 3 years and often are renewable for another fixed term

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What's intellectual property in an employment contract?

I recently accepted a job offer that contained an employment contract. The contract states that I will not use any intellectual property of the company without prior written consent. I am unsure what exactly constitutes as intellectual property and would like to get a better understanding of the definition of intellectual property in the context of an employment contract.

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Your Agreement may contain a definition like this: “Intellectual Property” means recognized protectable rights and interests such as: patents (whether or not issued), copyrights, trademarks, service marks, applications for any of the foregoing, inventions, Confidential Information, trade secrets, trade dress, domain names, logos, insignia, color combinations, slogans, moral rights, right of publicity, author’s rights, contract and licensing rights, works, mask works, industrial design rights, rights of priority, know how, design flows, methodologies, devices business processes, developments, innovations. But a few of these are going to be most likely available to you. Internal company know-how or “ how we do things here that help us succeed”. Note the words “Confidential Information”. Confidential Information is another defined term which includes customer and employee information, pricing and business strategy and plans, among others.

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Asked on Jul 15, 2025

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Merry K.

Answered Jul 22, 2025

I'm sorry to hear about this proposed change. Whether or not your employer can make such changes unilaterally depends almost entirely on how your contract is written. For example, if your contract clearly states that you are an "at will" employee, your employer can not only make whatever changes it wants, but can also discipline you or terminate you with no reason at all and only a one second advance notice. If it's not an "at will" contract, there may be a paragraph or two that addresses amendments to the agreement - eg, some such contracts may say that an employer can make changes with two weeks advance written notice; another may say that changes will be negotiated in advance between employer and employee. You may want to have an employment attorney, such as myself, review your contract as well as any recent correspondence you may have received from your employer. You may also want to try to very quietly try to find out whether or not other employees are possibly in the same boat as you - it's possible that the employer is cutting back on some benefits to save money, rather than laying off or terminating some or all of their employees. Good luck to you - and if you'd like to reach out to me, you can find me through ContractsCounsel.com or on WSBA.org Please be aware that the above information is provided for educational purposes only, and no attorney/client relationship has been formed Merry A. Kogut WSBA #16153

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What is fixed term employment contract?

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