It has been quite shocking how sophisticated and smart
professionals sign an employment contract without being acquiring full
knowledge of the contract. They just blindly sign off the contract ignorantly.
They are the ones who put themselves into trouble later and are often shocked
when they are terminated from their jobs. It has been observed that most of the
employment contract specifically prohibits the employee’s to undergo a period
of unemployment. You should never let this same situation happen with you.
Therefore, we are here to discuss a few reasons why you should get your
employment contract reviewed by the Employment Lawyer Toronto.
There are chances that your
contract might have some post-employment limitations
Many employment contracts have numerous clauses added to it, which
are done by your employers to seek restrictions on your new employer’s legal
commitment to you. Some of them are non-competition, non-solicitation, and
termination. These clauses server has crucial restrictions after you become
unemployed. Many employees carry a misconception that those clauses don’t apply
to the, however, that isn’t very true. You should be very sure of the clauses
and get proper advice from a qualified lawyer before you sign them. Employees
should understand that their new employer already has hired good lawyers and
will go to the highest extent, to protect their business needs. Therefore,
employees should also play safe. They should learn and understand well the obligations
and rights of the contract.
You could lose money if you
fail to review your employment contract before giving consent
The clause in the employment contract that can affect an employee
negatively is the ‘termination clause’. The termination clause aims to restrict
the employee’s salary break-up to the minimum worth as decided by the statutory
laws. Due to this, the employees regulated by the state get 1-3 weeks of
earnings on completion of each year’s service. However, employees who are
regulated federally get much less and this doesn’t suffice their financial
security during the period of unemployment. Suppose an employee is terminated
before the stipulated term of service and doesn’t get more than just 2 weeks of
earnings and benefits, then it becomes very tough to survive for the time while
he/ she is seeking a new job. Therefore, make sure you get the contract
verified and confirm the ‘termination clause’ beforehand.
An employee might find
himself locked-in to the Contract
At times, employees are so ignorant, that they come to know and
understand their employment after their employment term has finished. They do
such things because they want to curtail the fear of losing the job offer. So,
just to bag the opportunity they feel pressurized and blindly sign the
contract. Such reasons don’t stand valid in legal circumstances, as they do not
value them. Not everyone can come out of the problem after signing the contract
without understanding and hence they suffer. Canadian law is sympathetic
towards those employees and doesn’t hold accountable for their deed, however,
they cannot do much in their favor. This is more because on the contract it is
boldly written, “The employee understands the contract”. If the
employee reads carefully and understands the contact with the help of an
employment lawyer then they would be better off in the future.
An employee shouldn’t risk a
potential new job
When a person gets a good offer from a company, he doesn’t
negotiate or understand the contract much in the fear of spoiling the
opportunity. However, a few things that an employee should understand is, the
employer releases the contract with an expectation that the employee with
negotiating which is natural. Secondly, the person with whom the employee
negotiates is an existing employee of the organization and he is already in the
employee’s shoes. Therefore, there are chances that they would consider the
assurances and protections that you seek in your new employer. Always, remember
an organization who addresses the reasonable requests is the ones who top the
list. Hence, you should never be afraid of negotiating and putting through your
words to your new employer.
Fighting a contract is five
times more expensive than getting it reviewed
Another issue that the people find while it comes to review their
contract is the payment of the human resource or employment lawyer. Most of the
time, the employee restrain themselves to pay $1000 or less to the lawyer and
hence avoid reviewing. Little do they know that it would cost a bomb, to get
the contract negotiated later by a lawyer. As the well-known phrase says that
prevention is cheaper than cure, hence employees should always take preventive
measures by getting the contract reviewed in advance. If they happen to lose
their job in the future, they can be benefited from more months of benefit and
compensation. If an employee signs the contract without obtaining much
knowledge, they are just trading off some of their rights and gaining few
obligations.
The
above article has suggested many reasons to get your contract reviewed before
signing it. Hope you would understand the importance and take preventive
measures on time.
