Five Things You Need to Consider When Starting a New Job

Economic pressures may have you convinced that anything is better than nothing when it comes to securing employment. Getting hired nowadays can be an uphill climb, however as a new employee, you need to take several things into consideration before signing your employment agreement. By keeping these five things in mind, you can try to prevent litigation should your new venture turn sour.

What’s in this thing?

The Employment Contract

“Congratulations, you’re hired! Sign here and we’ll get started.” Every employer-employee relationship is a contract. Generally, contracts are legally binding. It is imperative that you know your rights and obligations to your employer BEFORE a claim arises. This means that you do actually have to read the agreement, and more importantly, understand it.

When a formal written employment contract is required, there are several common terms within it. These terms legally protect both the employee and the employer. Terms may be industry-dependent, but most employment contracts include: compensation plans, benefits or stock options, duration of the contract, grounds for termination, severance clause, a non-disclosure clause, an arbitration provision, expectations and duties, and a non-compete clause.

Tricky Terms and Creeping Clauses

The importance of understanding terms of contract

This is possibly the most important thing to keep in mind when starting a new job. Through the excitement of your new employment, you read your contract, maybe even read it carefully (assuming you understood #1 above). You sign. Six months later you hate it, and quit when a competitor company makes you an offer. Happens all the time - but you could be subject to legal limitations, such as accepting your new offer or retaining your previous clients.

If your previous employment contract contained a non-compete clause, you may not be able to work for a similar company or transfer your previous clients for a certain period of time. Many employment contracts contain non-disclosure or confidentiality clauses as well, which prevent the departing employee from sharing information relating to the employer’s business. You don’t want to learn that you signed a non-disclosure agreement after you sent out the recipe for your employer’s secret sauce.

The bottom line? Understand what each term or clause in your contract means, as well as your rights and obligations that go along with them.

Big Brother is Watching

You probably have no privacy rights to your emails

It is true. If you forward your personal or non-business emails to your Outlook account at work, anything you send is saved and can be used against you in court. Keeping your accounts separate is kind of a ‘duh’, but don’t get lazy and utilize your work email for anything you wouldn’t want your whole office to see.

In a company, not even the CEO has privacy rights to the emails they send. Every document and every email is saved because companies know they have to keep EVERYTHING should a lawsuit arise. It is important for you, as an employee, to do the same. If you save your emails, they can be evidence to build your case should you encounter a lawsuit. Especially be conscious of retaining anything that may be related to illegal activity (i.e. harassment or fraud).

Who’s who and who do they answer to?

Organization of the Company

This one may seem silly, but it is serious. Knowing the organization of the business or company is critical to respond effectively to issues. Be aware of who your boss answers to, and the entire chain of authority for the organization. This makes correcting mistakes easier, relieving liability more probable, and resolving compliance issues faster.

Practically… er…Imperfect in Every Way

Keeping up with your personal file

It may be a surprise that your employer has a personal file on you (it was to me). You previous employer does too. With each person an employer hires, they begin a personal file. This file contains internal memoranda and notes on anything you may have done that they find displeasing. Even if you are convinced you are a perfect employee, your previous HR department may have thought your “sick day” Monday after the Superbowl was a little suspicious. This file typically will only contain negative instances (even very minor occurrences), and are kept in anticipation of litigation. They will also be pulled as prospective employers read your resume and call your references.

Once you start a new job, you should check out your personal file after 3 months or so. Each state is different, but usually you can request to access your own file, for instance, twice a year. This is a great way to see how you’ve started out and fix anything you’ve been doing wrong. Hopefully, there is only constructive criticism in there!

Contact Adkins Law if you need to speak with a Huntersville employment lawyer. One of our Huntersville employment attorneys can arrange a consultation to discuss your employment matter in detail. 

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