Negotiating contract terms

When offered a job, you are in a unique position to negotiate and establish yourself as a valuable asset, there needs to be a balance between being paid what you are worth and what the employer thinks they can get away with. An employment agreement sets out expectations the company has from you, the remuneration they are willing to give and the obligations they have towards you. It is common practice, out of desperation and gratitude to accept the employers first offer, however, this puts you at a huge disadvantage, we suggest that you consider the benefits of appointing ourselves to negotiate a better contract on your behalf.

 

Confidentiality / Non-Disclosure Agreement

The employee must be careful not to use or divulge confidential information of a prior employer – the new employer will often want a covenant from the employee prohibiting such use or disclosure. The employee must check for any confidentiality restrictions as they may be held accountable for a breach of confidentiality.

 

Dispute resolution

The company must provide a dispute resolution clause to settle disputes. If this clause specifies arbitration as the mode of settling the dispute, you might not be able to take your employer to court for contractual matters unless it is a matter of human rights or consumer rights.

 

How we can help

We would take instructions from you to negotiate terms with your potential employer on your behalf, points we would address would typically include: -

 

• Trying to get the employer to re-evaluate their salary offer;
• Confirming the frequency of pay increases;
• Confirming any bonuses/promotions based on Key Point Indicators (KPIs);
• Confirming any pre-booked holidays (also checking if any unused holiday allowance is lost or rolled over to the following year);
• Signing-on bonuses (paid when you join the company);
• Any relocation allowances;
• Training schedules;
• Additional allowances if required to work abroad;
• Health and medical benefits (including spouse and dependent coverage);
• Checking Pension arrangements;
• Lobby for insurance cover regarding disability or life insurance;
• Lobby for coverage regarding Vision / Dental / Mental health provisions; and
• Maternity/paternity leave.
• Involvement in other activities and confirming they would be acceptable (for instance freelance or charity work where they may be a potential conflict of interest).

 

We would examine the contract and seek variances in your favour regarding: -

• Duration of the employment term or is the employment “at-will”?
• Termination/grievance terms;
• Reasons for, and payments paid during any period of suspension; and
• Notice periods.

 

We would be delighted to act on your behalf to negotiate better terms, To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link. Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.