What am I signing in this employment contract?
Job offers are signed under time pressure, social pressure, and almost never by a lawyer. These are the clauses that cost people most.
Paste yours and see what stands outFree. No account. It points at clauses — it never tells you something is safe to sign.What it looks for
- Non-compete and non-solicit clauses, and how long they last
- Assignment of intellectual property — including things you make in your own time
- Notice periods that are longer for you than for them
- Clawback of signing or relocation bonuses
- Unpaid overtime hidden as "other duties as required"
- Probation terms and what can happen during them
An employment contract is the most consequential document most people sign, and it arrives at the worst possible moment: you have just been offered something you want, there is a deadline, and asking for time to have it reviewed feels like an insult to your new employer. That combination is why unfavourable clauses survive in these documents. Nobody is reading them carefully.
The clause that surprises people most often is intellectual property assignment. A broadly written one claims everything you create during your employment — not only work done for the company, not only work done in working hours, not only work done on company equipment. If you have a side project, an open source library, or a novel in a drawer, a clause like that can claim it. Many are written to reach that far, and some jurisdictions limit them, but the contract will not tell you which.
The second is asymmetry in notice. It is common to find that you must give three months and they may terminate immediately. That is not always unlawful, but it is rarely pointed out, and it changes what leaving actually costs you.
Non-competes deserve particular attention because their enforceability varies enormously by country and by state, and because a clause that would not survive a court challenge still works perfectly well as a deterrent. Most people never test them. They just do not take the job.
None of this means a contract with these clauses is a bad deal. It means you should know they are there before you decide, and you should know that asking to change them is normal and expected.
Related questions
- Is a two-year non-compete enforceable?
- Can my employer own things I make in my own time?
- What is an IP assignment clause?
- Do I have to pay back my signing bonus if I leave?
- Can they fire me without notice if I have to give three months?
Signing something else?
- What am I signing in this rental agreement?
- What am I agreeing to in these terms of service?
- What does this privacy policy actually let them do?
- What am I signing in this freelance contract?
- What am I signing in this loan or credit agreement?
- A crypto transaction
This is a reading aid, not legal advice. For anything that decides the next few years of your life, talk to someone qualified.