Timing Is Everything: Ensuring Your Employment Agreements Are Enforceable

Most employers know the value of having written employment agreements in place for their non-union or excluded employees, particularly when it comes to setting out obligations relating to termination. However, the timing of when a contract is signed can make all the difference to whether it is legally binding and you can rely on its terms, or whether common law principles apply instead.

The concept behind this issue is that in order to create an enforceable agreement, both contracting parties must give something up and receive some kind of benefit in return (referred to as "consideration"). The law considers employees without a written contract to have a bundle of certain implied rights when the employment relationship starts, including, and perhaps most importantly, a right to common law reasonable notice on termination of employment.  Employers and workers are free to amend these rights with a written employment agreement; however, if that agreement is entered into