San Jose Business Lawyers Blog
Most businesses have to deal with filling opened positions at their company at one time or another. In my continuing series on basic employment concerns for employers I have so far discussed searching for new employees, evaluating potential applicants, and doing and responding to reference checks. This blog discusses what you do once you have found someone you would like to hire.
When you have found someone you want to hire, you should always make the offer in writing. Your offer letter should, at a minimum, include their name, the position, the pay (and whether it is salary or hourly), where and when the work will be performed, what benefits are offered by your company, and that the employment is “at-will.” As I discussed in my previous blog, you can condition employment on a medical examination to confirm that the potential employee is physically able to do the job, or determine if any physical limitations exist, and establish a record of medical conditions.
I also recommend conditioning employment on confirmation of the employee’s identity, the results of a background check and confirmation that the employee can legally work in the U.S. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, employers are required to verify employment eligibility and identity. Because national origin and citizenship status could be used to discriminate against potential applicants, it is better to ask for this information only after you have made the job offer. After you confirm the employee’s identity and eligibility by reviewing the various identification documents the employee provides, you must have the employee complete an INS Form I-9, and you must complete the employer’s part of the I-9 within three business days of hiring the employee.
For most employees, an offer letter stating the terms of their employment is sufficient. However, for certain managers and executives and for employees that will have access to confidential information and trade secrets of your company, you will want them to sign a confidentiality and nondisclosure agreement as well as an Inventions Assignment Agreement. For top executives, they may require specific terms that should be set forth in an employment agreement. Employment agreements, if not drafted correctly, can cause a lot of liability for a company, so I definitely recommend you have your company’s employment agreement drafted by an attorney or HR person who is very well informed in this area. For many of the companies I work with, I will provide them with a form of offer letter and a form of employment agreement suited for their needs, and then they can complete it for new hires and just have me review any significant changes or additions.
Please contact Structure Law Group, LLP if you would like assistance with drafting employment agreements, or would like someone to review an employment agreement that you have prepared or revised to ensure that it has considered all of the issues and potential pitfalls.