We have extensive experience advising executives and managers on their employment contracts.
Some of the matters we will review and advise on are mentioned below.
Restraint Clauses
We can advise on restraint clauses within your employment contract, such as those which may prevent you from working for another business or even starting your own business after your employment ends.
For a restraint clause to be enforceable, the clause needs to be reasonable. In this context, reasonable means that it is no wider than necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the employer.
We find that commonly restraint clauses are too wide and are therefore unlikely to be enforceable.
We can:
- advise you on the enforceability of restraint clauses in your employment contract;
- advise you on what could happen if the restraint clause is enforceable and it is breached;
- and assist you in amending the restraint clause.
Bonuses
We can advise on terms which relate to bonuses and commissions being paid to you.
We advise on the different scenarios in which you could have earned the bonus but the employer is still justified in withholding it. We can assist in amending these clauses to ensure that the bonus or commission is paid to you fairly.
We can also assist you in obtaining advice regarding the tax implications relating to any bonus payments or any employee share scheme.
Termination Provisions & Representation
We will advise on the circumstances in which your employment could come to an end, and if necessary, propose amendments which you are comfortable with.
We find that, at times, certain representations are made to executives and managers which are relied on to accept the new employment.
We ensure that the representations made to you are incorporated in the contract. If the representation is not recorded as a term in the employment contract, it may make it more difficult (or not possible) for you to enforce the representations made to you.
Monetary And Non-monetary Benefits
As well as reviewing salary terms, we will also review the provisions relating to other monetary and non-monetary benefits
Position Description
We review and discuss with you the position description, duties and responsibilities, key performance indicators and other matters which relate to performance responsibility.
Confidential Information
We advise on what is defined as confidential information and whether there is any information that you are bringing into your new job which should be excluded from the definition of confidential information.
If such information is not excluded, it could prevent you from using it after the employment relationship ends.
Redundancy
We review redundancy provisions and discuss with you whether you are satisfied with the severance package specified in the employment contract.
We often find that executives and managers have more generous redundancy packages than those provided for under the National Employment Standards.
Company Policies
We discuss with you the implication of company policies to your employment, and whether you have been provided copies of them. We discuss the risks associated with potential policy breaches and advise on how you can minimise these risks.