Draft a Complete Employment Contract
Continuing with the theme of prevention, a wise entrepreneur drafts an employment contract for each and every employee he or she hires. But a wiser entrepreneur ensures the employment contract contains all the terms of the employment agreement, leaving little room (hopefully none) for later debate.
If you aren’t thorough drafting your employee’s contract, I’ll guarantee your employee will have selective memory about the terms of the deal. Often times small business owners just print out a contract template they find via Google or Barnes & Noble. When in reality, most employment situations are unique and require custom-tailored contracts.
About the Author
Ryan Roberts is a startup lawyer and represents technology companies through all phases of the startup process, including incorporation, seed & venture financings, and exit transactions. Click here to learn more about his practice.
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Please consider subscribing to The Startup Lawyer, following @startuplawyer on Twitter, or contact Ryan directly.2 Responses
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As a small business attorney, I certainly agree with you — it's very important to put your employee arrangements in writing. But there may be some situations where a shorter contract and a longer employment manual may be a better solution for your business. There are a host of issues (like employee blogging!) that are better covered in a manual as an overall company policy, rather than on a contract-by-contract basis. That's the kind of issue on which entrepreneurs should consult a local attorney . . . and put their "legal services fund" (see your post of Feb 6) to good use!
As a small business attorney, I certainly agree with you — it's very important to put your employee arrangements in writing. But there may be some situations where a shorter contract and a longer employment manual may be a better solution for your business. There are a host of issues (like employee blogging!) that are better covered in a manual as an overall company policy, rather than on a contract-by-contract basis. That's the kind of issue on which entrepreneurs should consult a local attorney . . . and put their "legal services fund" (see your post of Feb 6) to good use!