What your executive may negotiate before signing their contract

On Behalf of | Dec 6, 2018 | Business Law

While the workers for most companies are at-will employees, high-level executives are often contract workers instead. The employment agreement that they sign is far from standard. The prospective executive and their attorney will instead spend significant time negotiating the terms of the contract. A well-written employment agreement can minimize the risk of costly litigation if a conflict over these issues arises.

One of the terms that executives tend to want to discuss with their prospective employers before signing a contract with them is the scope of their role with the company. They may want to negotiate their title, the place that they’ll work from, what their responsibilities will be and whether they can be increased or decreased as well as whether they can have a role on the Board of Directors.

They’re likely to also want to discuss compensation. They’ll want to know what can adversely impact the base salary that they receive or what they can do to increase it. They may also want to negotiate a signing, quarterly or annual bonus and the terms for when they’re awarded.

Benefits that they may want to try to negotiate for as part of their compensation package include health, vision, dental, disability or life insurance, a pension plan or 401(k) and stock options. They may also want to reach an agreement with you about how much in paid vacation time that they’re entitled to each year.

They will also likely want to negotiate with you what type of actions may get them fired from their job. These may include such factors as failing to perform their job, committing a felony or breaching their contract. They may also want to negotiate what their severance pay would be if they were terminated without cause.

Other details that your prospective employee may want to negotiate include limits to their liability, reimbursement for personal costs, post-employment prohibitions and how issues should be resolved if disputes arise.

When it comes to how companies operate, no two businesses do things the same. The way that one entity in one industry should incorporate or negotiate an employment contract may not be appropriate for a company operating in a different sector. You’ll want to ally with an Augusta business law attorney who is keen on getting to know you and your needs and the goals that you wish to achieve.