Georgia Employment Contract Negotiation Lawyers

Understanding the terms of an employment agreement is as significant as the salary itself. These documents define your legal rights, your career mobility, and your financial security. Whether you are starting a new role or leaving an old one, failing to negotiate can leave you vulnerable to restrictions and the loss of legal claims.

At The Kirby G. Smith Law Firm, LLC, we provide employees with accessible representation. We use a billing model that combines a flat fee with a contingency fee. This fee starts as low as 30% in many cases. We offer competitive rates and initial consultations to make legal advocacy available to more employees. Our attorneys have 40 years of combined experience analyzing and negotiating employment contracts and severance packages.

What Should You Review?

Before you accept a position, you should always ask to review any employee handbooks, rule books or other documents that will govern your employment, in addition to any documents you must sign to accept the position. Many candidates fear that such a request will discourage an employer; however, the request often demonstrates that you are an intelligent, forward-thinking employee who will understand company policies. In most situations, the request will not affect your candidacy because employers expect such inquiries.

When Should You Request The Documents?

You may ask at any time, but employers often will not provide information until they decide to hire you. Unless you have a compelling reason to accelerate the timetable, such as a competing job offer, we advise that you wait until the employer offers you the position.

What Is A Severance Agreement?

Severance agreements are contracts usually offered during termination. Employers often include language that makes you give up your right to sue them. Your right to file a legal claim is often your best leverage. You must examine these documents carefully. These agreements also frequently include restrictive covenants. Noncompete or nonsolicitation clauses may limit where you work next or how you serve your customers.

Understand the results before you give up any legal rights. Do not sign immediately if your company pressures you. Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), employees over age 40 get specific time to think and revoke their signature. A waiver is usually only valid if it is knowing and voluntary. Proving you were forced to sign is difficult later. If you are unsure and have little time, tell your employer in writing that you want to talk to a lawyer first.

Why Should You Contact A Lawyer?

Our team can often help you wade through the legal jargon of your contract for a small fee. The explanations of what rights you are waiving can be extremely useful, especially when navigating the unique legal rights of public employees, to determine which competing offers to take. Lawyers can perform a salary analysis to see if the offer being made is what we normally see in your field. Finally, a lawyer can suggest areas where you may want to negotiate, ask questions or express concerns over terms in the employee handbook and/or contract. A lawyer can even help you draft a letter to your potential employer going over these things.

Maximizing Your Leverage

You must find and use legal leverage to get a better severance package. You may have grounds to negotiate if facts suggest your termination involved discrimination, retaliation or whistleblower activity. Our Atlanta employment contract attorneys know current separation trends. We can evaluate an offer based on your specific legal claims.

Protect Your Rights During Contract Negotiations

Do not sign away your rights without a legal review. Our team can help with compensation analysis, contract reviews or severance negotiations.

We offer all of the above-mentioned services and can even break these services up so you only pay for what you need. If you feel any of these services would be of benefit to you, contact us online today or call 770-892-6019 to discuss your options.