Employment Contract

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General Purpose. This employment contract spells out the legal relationship between employer and employee. It is written for use by both employers and employees. The following is a list of feature contained in this agreement (although a user does not have to incorporate all features into an employment agreement created on our site):

1. Set forth duties and title, if any, of employee;
2. Select a fixed term of employment (such as 1 year) or "at will" meaning employment continues until either side gives proper notice to terminate;
3. Set grounds of termination for cause;
4. Create confidentiality agreement within the employment contract requiring the employee not to disclose confidential materials and information of employer;
5. Create non-compete agreement within the employment contract restricting the employee from participating in a business venture that competes with employer in a defined geographic region for the length of employment plus an additional period after termination that is selected by employer;
6. Set forth employee compensation including any fixed bonuses or commissions;
7. In the case of an employer created form, facilitates obtaining injunctive relief from a court should the employee breach the confidentiality or non-competition agreement (an injunction is a court order generally directing the employee to cease the activity which is in breach of the confidentiality or non-competition agreements); and
8. Set forth that employer owns any intellectual properties such as inventions or copyrightable materials created by employee within the course and scope of employment.

Employment "At Will" v. specific term. An "at will" employment relationship is one where either the employee or the employer can terminate the relationship merely by giving notice as specified in their agreement: for example, in writing 2 weeks in advance. If an employer desires to establish this type of relationship, it is important that it be in a writing signed by the employee acknowledging and assenting to the arrangement. Specific term employment contracts are for a specified length of time and, typically, automatically renew unless either party gives notice of intention not to renew prior to expiration. Our employment contract forms work in this fashion.

Noncompete Clause. Although noncompete agreements (that are properly drawn with reasonable limits) are generally enforceable in all states, California is the exception where noncompetes are generally void. California Business and Professions Code Section 16600 provides: "Except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind is to that extent void." Link. The enumerated, narrow exceptions are: (a) sale of a business, (b) partnership dissolution, and (c) disassociation of a partner. Link. Additional information on California Noncompetes.

The following are links to others MedLawPlus.com® forms that contain confidentiality agreements:

1. Letter of Intent (offer sheet)
2. Independent Contractor Agreement
3. Confidentiality Agreement for Employees and Independent Contractors (without the full employment agreement)
4. Confidentiality Agreement for Potential Business Relationships

Links to labor / employment law sites:

• AllBusiness, employee termination;
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
• 'Lectric Law Library;
• Department of Labor, summary of laws; and
• employment-law.freeadvice.com.