In this interview with Jennifer Rubin, Member, Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice at Mintz Levin, we discuss at-will employment and the types of employment contracts.
Jen focuses on C-suite executive compensation practices, and on meeting the increasingly complex employment needs of executives of public and private corporations. When she isn’t negotiating employment, equity and severance arrangements, Jen leverages her twenty-five years of experience as a trial lawyer to help clients craft business solutions to legal problems. Jen, who has an AV Preeminent ranking from Martindale-Hubbell, which publishes a highly respected Law Directory, that provides background information on United States lawyers and law firms.
She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County and is a faculty member and advisor to The Honor Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists Navy Seals and other armed services special operators transition from military service to the private sector. Jen is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Patrick: Can you describe to us in layman’s terms the basic types of employment agreements?
Jennifer: When you think about an employment agreement, it’s really any document that governs the employment relationship. It can also be oral. When most people talk about employment agreements, they’re really talking about a document that provides severance or a term of employment.
Patrick: Even a job application at the most basic level is an employment agreement because it has some information in there. Once you sign that, that’s a legal and binding document.
Jennifer: Absolutely. In fact, an offer letter that is provided to an employee that an employee counter signs and sends back is an employment agreement.
Patrick: That governs the employment arrangement unless there’s something in the state that you’re living in, like Atwell Employment.
Jennifer: Right.
Patrick: California is an Atwell Employment state.
Jennifer: Yes, it is.
Patrick: Explain what that means. Is that different than other states?
Jennifer: Every state is an Atwell Employment state. That means that you can terminate someone at any time and for any reason. The issues arise when there are exceptions to Atwell Employment. For example, an employment for a term where you have an employment agreement that says, “I’m going to employ you for a few years.” That’s an exception to Atwell Employment.
Of course, the law places exceptions on Atwell Employment. You can say that an employer can fire someone at any time for any reason. You cannot fire someone for reasons that violate public policy. For example, you cannot fire someone because of their gender or age. There are a lot of exceptions to the rule. In effect, that is the law in California, as in most states.
This is Patrick Henry, CEO of QuestFusion, with The Real Deal…What Matters.