To run a successful business, you’ll need to hire the right employees. When building your team, it is critical that you have the proper agreements in place to protect your business. Priori can help you find an employment lawyer to draft the necessary agreements establishing expectations and obligations of your employees, as well as protecting your business from costly legal issues in the future.
Depending on a number of variables, including your company’s size, industry and the types of employees you hire, you may need a number of agreements in place to properly protect your company when hiring new employees. These may include:
Employment Agreements or Offer Letters
Both employment agreements and offer letters set the general expectations that govern the employer-employee relationship. Employment agreements are typically more formal and complex because they are often reserved for high-level employees. Some of the important information detailed in these documents include the title of the position, description of the role, compensation, benefit eligibility and employment status (at-will vs. contract, etc.).
Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement
A Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement (PIIA) protects your company from employee disclosures of the company’s confidential or proprietary information. A PIIA also clearly outlines ownership of employee-created inventions,, discoveries, designs, developments, processes, improvements, copyrightable material and trade secrets discovered or created during the course of their employment.
Stock Option Agreement
A stock option agreement is one of the vehicles with which you may convey an option to purchase stock in your company to your employees. A lawyer should review the terms of any equity grant, including the strike price of options, the vesting schedule and any eligibility restrictions.
Commission Sales Agreement
If you plan to compensate one or all of your salespeople with commission only, you may want a lawyer to draft a commission sales agreement, outlining the terms of that relationship.
Corporate Credit Card Use Agreement
If you provide an employee with a corporate credit card, it's important to have a lawyer draft an agrreement that holds the emplyee personally responsible for charges associated with misuse of the card. A free template of this type of agreement may be found in our Legal Document and Form Learning Center.
Pricing
Depending on the complexity of the matter, the cost to properly draft employment-related agreements can range widely. Through the Priori network, employment agreements can typically cost anywhere from $250-$5000. In order to get a better sense of cost for your particular situation, put in a request to schedule a complimentary consultation and free price quote from one of our lawyers.