Employment Contracts, Severance Agreements, and Restrictive Covenants
Employment Contracts, Severance Agreements, and Restrictive Covenants
Employers have a distinct advantage over employees when drafting and negotiating employment agreements, severance packages, and non-competes. Often times, employers hire a team of attorneys to draft employment-related contracts, then present the documents to their employees without explaining the small print.
Severance Packages – What Employees Should Know
If you are offered a severance package, it is critical to contact an employment attorney to review the terms and conditions, the offer of severance, and any potential claims you may have against your former employer. Employees need to understand what claims they might be giving up by signing and accepting a severance package. Our attorneys are experienced with negotiating more favorable terms, additional severance pay, or the extension of benefits relating to severance.
Do not allow an employer to sever the employment relationship according to its own preferred terms. Seek legal counsel, so you can better understand what options are available to you.
How Employers Use Non-Compete Restrictive Covenants to Restrict Fair Competition
Be wary when your employer gives you a non-compete agreement to sign. These agreements very often contain language that is extremely favorable to the employer. Sometimes, non-compete agreements attempt to restrict employment across a broad geographical area and over an extended period of time without justification. It is important to know which restrictions will be enforceable in court, and which restrictions boil down to the employer’s wishful thinking.
Our attorneys are experienced at reviewing and understanding the terms contained in non-compete agreements and their enforceability in Arizona and Federal Courts. We have negotiated changes in non-compete agreements to lower unreasonable restrictions. We have also assisted employees in gaining the permission of their former employers to take positions with competitors. Let us help you understand the terms and conditions of your non-compete agreement. You have more freedom than you might think.
Physician Contract Review
Similar to severance and non-compete agreements, Physician contracts are filled with complex legalese that employers use to bury and obfuscate information critical to a physician’s future employment. If you are considering a position with a hospital or other health care provider, you should be aware of any potential factors your employer could use to justify breaching the agreement. You need to have a full and clear view of your duties and expectations, benefits, potential for financial gain, and non-compete terms and conditions.
Our attorneys will sit down with you and review your agreement page by page, answering any questions you have and explaining the complex terms in a comprehensible manner. Where needed, we will propose you attempt to negotiate changes to the documents to better protect you and your practice from unfair treatment, including helping you negotiate better financial terms based on how your employer is proposing to compensate you as compared with other physicians in your field of expertise.
We are available as a resource to assist physicians before they execute documents that will greatly affect their lives and practices for a significant time period. Contact us to set up a consultation today.