Employment Agreement - Term Clause - State of Virginia

[cas21212]

Hello All,

Filling out paperwork for a job and the following clause is listed under the term agreement: The term of this Agreement is for a duration of three (3) years from the Effective Date, and Employee waives all of his rights to terminate his employment with Employer for three (3) years. Employer shall, however, be entitled to terminate this Agreement immediately with or without cause.

Later is says: Should Employee decide to terminate his/her employment with Employer, he/she shall be required to provide Employer with at least four (4) weeks written notice to the Employer of his/her termination.

I live in the state of Virginia where we are at "At-Will" state for both the employer and the employee. My question is that if I (the employee) were to leave the company within 3 years could they seek any legal action against me?

Best,

 

[quincy]

Hello All,

Filling out paperwork for a job and the following clause is listed under the term agreement: The term of this Agreement is for a duration of three (3) years from the Effective Date, and Employee waives all of his rights to terminate his employment with Employer for three (3) years. Employer shall, however, be entitled to terminate this Agreement immediately with or without cause.

Later is says: Should Employee decide to terminate his/her employment with Employer, he/she shall be required to provide Employer with at least four (4) weeks written notice to the Employer of his/her termination.

I live in the state of Virginia where we are at "At-Will" state for both the employer and the employee. My question is that if I (the employee) were to leave the company within 3 years could they seek any legal action against me?

Best,

Breach of contract.

But the clause in your contract is a questionable one. You should have the contract, in its entirety, personally reviewed by an attorney in your area prior to signing.

We cannot analyze contracts or contract clauses here. That exceeds the scope of this forum.

Good luck.

 

[cas21212]

Breach of contract.

But the clause in your contract is a questionable one. You should have the contract, in its entirety, personally reviewed by an attorney in your area prior to signing.

We cannot analyze contracts or contract clauses here. That exceeds the scope of this forum.

Good luck.

Thanks for the response!

When you say "breach of contact" in a total broad sense what do you mean? I fully plan on working at the company for many years to come but that line defiantly stood out. Could they sue for all wages I've made? Again I know you'll have to be super broad about it without looking at anything.

And does the Virginia "At-Will" clause hold any baring here for my protection or because it states a 3 year term it voids any protection I have with VA state laws and only protects the employer in this sense?

Thanks again for the help

 

[cbg]

At-will is not a law per se. In 49 out of 50 states, including VA, and sometimes in the 50th, employment is considered to be at-will unless there is a contract or CBA that says it's not. At will is the default, but that doesn't mean a contract of employment is automatically void.

Please note that I am only speaking in the broad sense and am not speaking to this specific contract. I tend to think that VA will consider 4 weeks written notice to be unreasonable but my consideration and $5 will get you out of Starbucks.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the response!

When you say "breach of contact" in a total broad sense what do you mean? I fully plan on working at the company for many years to come but that line defiantly stood out. Could they sue for all wages I've made? Again I know you'll have to be super broad about it without looking at anything.

And does the Virginia "At-Will" clause hold any baring here for my protection or because it states a 3 year term it voids any protection I have with VA state laws and only protects the employer in this sense?

Thanks again for the help

A breach of contract is a failure by either party to a contract to meet the terms (promises) agreed upon.

The contract provision you quoted appears to be one that could be unenforceable as written - but all facts need to be known about the specific employment and the entire contract needs to be read and analyzed.

 

[cas21212]

A breach of contract is a failure by either party to a contract to meet the terms (promises) agreed upon.

The contract provision you quoted appears to be one that could be unenforceable as written - but all facts need to be known about the specific employment and the entire contract needs to be read and analyzed.

Thanks again!

Not sure if this will help what so ever with what I'm saying but the company HR just responded back to my request for more information on the clause with the response: Is just for retention purposes.

Does this change anything at all?

Thanks as always

 

[quincy]

Thanks again!

Not sure if this will help what so ever with what I'm saying but the company HR just responded back to my request for more information on the clause with the response: Is just for retention purposes.

Does this change anything at all?

Thanks as always

Taken of context and without knowing anything more, no, it doesn't change my opinion that you need the contract and all facts of your employment/prospective employment personally reviewed.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Could they sue for all wages I've made?

No, but they could, possibly, stop you from working in your field.

As previously said, you need to have a lawyer look at this before you sign it.

 

[quincy]

No, but they could, possibly, stop you from working in your field.

As previously said, you need to have a lawyer look at this before you sign it.

This does not appear to be a noncompete agreement - although it is hard to say from the small portion quoted.

It could be a commitment made by the employee to work for X number of years with the employer to escape having to repay a benefit provided by the employer at the start of employment (e.g., free education or training).

Again, though, there is the need for a thorough personal review of the facts and the contract to determine if it is enforceable as written.

 

[Zigner]

I totally agree about the attorney -

From my layman's point of view, I would think that, absent any penalties specifically mentioned in the contract, the clause is meaningless. But that's why it's hard to try to interpret just a single clause from a much larger document without seeing the entire document.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

It sounds like a personal service agreement that could have such a remedy if breached.

What it really sounds like is a really sucky contract term that would make me worry about what else is stuck in there and there is no way I would sign it without an experienced employment law attorney looking at it first.

 

[cas21212]

This does not appear to be a noncompete agreement - although it is hard to say from the small portion quoted.

It could be a commitment made by the employee to work for X number of years with the employer to escape having to repay a benefit provided by the employer at the start of employment (e.g., free education or training).

Again, though, there is the need for a thorough personal review of the facts and the contract to determine if it is enforceable as written.

Thanks again everyone for being awesome and helping with all of the responses. I will be sent a separate "Non-Compete/NDA" contract once I send in all paperwork and pass background check etc... This is only with the employment contract. I have no signing bonus/retention/relocation pay only a basic Salary paid bi-weekly.

This is why I think this is just a throw-away line to try and keep people but having no actual legal leg to stand on.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I certainly wouldn't risk that assumption without having a lawyer look at it.

 

[Zigner]

This is why I think this is just a throw-away line to try and keep people but having no actual legal leg to stand on.

I'll bet they had the contract reviewed by an attorney - you should too.

 

[cas21212]

Oh I'm 100% looking into that now. Just looking for any advice possible. Any recommendations? I'm very limited on a budget