Severance packages are a benefit of employment, not an entitlement. Many educated professionals like executives and managers negotiate an employment contract when they accept a new position somewhere. Asking for severance pay is often part of those negotiations. ...
Employment Contracts
Do you need to negotiate restrictive covenants as an executive?
Executives command excellent compensation for their services. They often have a lengthy and complex contract explaining what compensation they will receive and what obligations they have to the company. Many executives negotiating a contract for a new position will...
Should you demand your stock options in a severance package?
Taking an executive position at a big company means a lot of responsibility. Your new position often involves a lot of paperwork. After all, as a high-earning professional, you need to protect yourself -- and the company wants to limit its liability and the risk to...
What happens if there is a mistake in the CEO’s contract?
CEOs often work under a contract with the company rather than as an at-will employee. To understand the possible resolutions for a mistake in CEO’s contract, it is helpful to understand some basics of contract law because fundamentally, the answers are the same. How...
Noncompete agreement enforceability always a key issue
Disputes in the Michigan and national business realm surrounding noncompete agreements occur frequently and often garner prominent judicial attention.Indeed, a recent article on the subject matter stresses that, "The most litigated issue in employment contracts is the...
They say, you say: Is that a trade secret?
OK, so you took a few files and documents with you when you recently terminated employment with Company A, intending to use them in your new digs with Company B. They served you well and unquestionably increased your efficiency during your former employment tenure, so...
Retention agreements are vital to keeping high-performing employees
During an acquisition, upper management from the acquiring company typically recognizes the key talent in place at the acquired organization. After all, it was these people who helped make the company an attractive acquisition target. Retaining high achievers is a...
Noncompete agreements often center stage in business spats
You can't assume that position with our business rival, given that a prerequisite for doing so will be your use of proprietary information that you took from us when you quit our company beforehand.Yes, I can, because my new job description differs markedly from what...
Discrimination-based termination: doing something about it
You might be an employee who can just sense it. Supervisors and work team leads who used to be friendly and inclusionary are now aloof and chilly in their interactions. Work duties that have long been yours are now being peeled away and assumed by co-workers. You used...
Will your employment contract be ideal when first presented to you?
Any managerial level job applicant in Michigan or nationally who is handed a contract that is flatly exemplary in every aspect likely flashes on the same thought.That is this: I will happily work for this employer forever. Such an outcome is of course optimal....