Often, employers and prospective employees are eager to start
their relationship. However, this eagerness can result in
serious consequences, usually for the employer.
One situation that employment lawyers routinely see is parties
agreeing to the key terms of employment verbally or in a "Term
Sheet" but leaving the drafting and execution of a formal
Employment Agreement to a later date, most commonly the date the
employee commences employment or shortly thereafter. The
problem with this approach is that any terms of the Employment
Agreement that were not agreed upon as part of the verbal agreement
or Term Sheet may not be enforceable.
There have been a number of cases where employees have sued
employers (or former employers) to have terms of the Employment
Agreement declared invalid or unenforceable for lack of
"consideration" on the basis that the term(s) at issue
were not discussed or agreed upon prior to signing the Employment
Agreement on or after the first
