Employment Contracts

An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and an employee. The employment lawyers at Jaffe Glenn Law Group will write, review, and/or revise your employment contract. Employment contracts may arise prior to starting an employment relationship, during the course of your employment, or as you are leaving a job. These agreements, also referred to as severance agreements, may include non-compete clauses, non-solicitation clauses, compensation clauses, and other important clauses that can significantly affect you. The contents of an employment agreement can greatly affect and limit your ability to work in the future. Therefore, being represented by a qualified attorney to assist you in the negotiating and/or drafting of an employment contract is imperative. One of our employment law attorneys will be able to advise and guide you through the process. We will clearly explain the agreement and how it may affect you and will also be able to suggest ways to revise the agreement to protect and help you.

The employment attorneys at Jaffe Glenn Law Group listen to our clients and determine the best way to achieve their goals in the employment agreement. We will protect your interests, whether it be drafting an agreement or revising an agreement for purposes of defining your future employment or, for the purposes of leaving from an existing job. Like any other contract, the terms are often not clear to an untrained eye. Our lawyers have experience in understanding employment agreements and can counsel you through the process of revisions and eventual execution.

We pride ourselves on protecting our clients' rights. We will tirelessly take the time to ensure that you are getting what you deserve and what you are entitled to. New Jersey law guides our lawyers in determining how to best accomplish this within the context of an employment agreement.

For example, your employer may want you to sign an agreement when you leave a job that tries to prevent you from doing the type of work that you have experience doing, referred to as a non-compete clause. The agreement may provide you with severance pay in a nominal amount, even though the limitation as to future employment may inevitably cost you thousands of dollars. An employment agreement may place unreasonable time limits on your return to work in your field. An employment or severance agreement may prevent you from talking to your ex-employer's prior clients, present clients, and prospective clients. Therefore, when you get another job in the same field, probably a fieldin which you have experience, you may not be able to even communicate with a large number of consumers in the field.

When leaving your employment, an employment agreement may contain a confidentiality clause. These clauses are often vague and therefore misunderstood and your execution of such an agreement can ultimately lead to a lawsuit. The clause may prevent you from speaking about the company's so called "trade secrets." Your employer may define "trade secrets" in such a way that if you even discuss your prior job with anyone, they will claim you have damaged them and owe them money. The employer's insertion of a confidentiality clause may be another way for your ex-employer to tie your hands with respect to obtaining future employment in the same field.

You may have claims against your prior employer for past violations and you aren't aware of the claims at the time of your termination. Your employment agreement will likely include a release of any and all claims you have or may have against your employer. Blindly signing an agreement with this language will preclude you from remedying any violations which occurred during your employment.

If you are presented with an employment agreement at any time during your employment, please call us for a free consultation at (201) 687-9977.