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Many employees in NJ sign contracts or employment agreements as a result of their employment. While many employees are “at-will” employees who can be terminated at any time for any or no non-discriminatory or non-retaliatory reason, there are many employees who have contractual rights. These contractual rights may include a promise to employ for a particular term, a promise to pay compensation, bonuses, commissions, travel expenses, stock options, and other benefits. When an employer fails to comply with a contractual promise, the employee may have the right to bring an action for breach of contract. Employment contracts and agreements do not always need to be in writing in order to be enforceable. Some oral promises, coupled with an employee’s detrimental reliance may be enforceable as a breach of oral agreement or a promissory estoppel.

Other NJ employees find themselves at the wrong end of contract claim. NJ employers sometimes require employees to sign oppressive contract provisions, such as non-compete clauses, restrictive covenants (link to non-compete agreements page), mandatory arbitration agreements (link to mandatory arbitration agreements page), non-disclosure agreements, and non-solicitation agreements. All of these agreements can be enforceable under certain circumstances. Similarly, severance agreements and releases that an employer asks an employee to sign may unwitting waive important legal rights.

Non-compete Agreements

It is becoming more common for employers to require employees to sign a variety of restrictive covenants, including non-compete agreements in NJ, as a condition of employment. Under New Jersey law, these agreements are enforceable to the extent that they are necessary in order to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests. Even non-compete agreements in NJ that are overly broad in geographic and temporal scope can be enforced, because the Court has the power to reduce the scope rather than declaring the entire agreement unenforceable.There are many different ways of handling non-compete situations and as a top employment law firm, Schorr & Associates has successfully assisted hundreds of employees in reducing or eliminating their non-compete problems.

Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

Unfortunately, employers are increasingly requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements in NJ in order to be or continue to be employed. By signing such an arbitration agreement, the employee is required to waive his or right to file a lawsuit in the event of discrimination, retaliation or any other employment-related dispute. Instead, the employment must forgo his or her statutory right to a jury trial and instead submit the matter to a private mediator. These mandatory arbitration agreements in NJ also often limit discovery, damages and other rights afforded by Courts.There are situations where, under New Jersey law, an employer may violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by requiring an employee to sign an arbitration agreement under threat of termination.

Severance Agreements

Many employees who are terminated from employment are presented with a severance agreement. These agreements offer compensation to the employee in return for the employee’s agreement to waive and release all legal claims against the employer. Often, these agreements also contain restrictive covenants which can prevent the employee from being able to work for a competitor or anywhere in the same industry. These NJ severance agreements are often written in legalese, and are confusing at best. There are many different ways of handling a severance agreement in NJ, and Schorr & Associates has successfully assisted hundreds of employees in enhancing their severance packages.