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A Pennsylvania employment contract is a legally binding agreement that is executed between an employer and a new employee. This agreement describes the employee’s job duties and company policies that must be adhered to, and in return lays out compensation and benefits that the employee will receive in exchange for their work.
Pennsylvania is an “at-will” employment state. Under at will employment, employers have the right to fire employees at any time without cause or reason as long as the termination of employment doesn’t violate any discrimination laws.
The only other exception to at will employment is the existence of a valid employment contract. To supersede at will employment, the employment contract must include one of the following provisions:
Once an employee becomes a contracted employee, the terms of their employment are no longer “at will” and are now governed by the terms in the contract.
Yes. Employment contracts are legally enforceable in Pennsylvania. If either party violates the terms of the contract, the damaged party can pursue legal action for breach of contract.
For an employee to assert a claim of breach of contract and enforce an employment contract, Pennsylvania laws requires that a party prove the following four elements:
Employment contracts can also be enforced by employers against employees. Restrictive covenants like non-compete agreements protect the employer’s business interests by limiting an employee’s actions after a term of employment.
Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements are enforceable in Pennsylvania as long as they are reasonable. When considering reasonableness, courts will look at the duration of the contract, the geographic boundaries in place, and whether the agreement could cause harm to the public.
The legal requirements for a Pennsylvania employment contract are governed by Pennsylvania contract laws. Contracts can be either written or oral, but all enforceable contracts will contain the following elements:
While oral contracts are legal, it is highly recommended that all employment contracts are in writing and signed by both parties. The elements of breach of contract are more difficult to prove without a tangible contract putting either party at a disadvantage if enforcement is necessary.
Employment contracts come in many forms based on the type of work the company does or the type of employee being hired to complete the job. Some employment contracts include restrictive covenants and sometimes these contracts are separate from the employment agreement.
Some common types of Pennsylvania employment contracts include:
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I build legal solutions which create extraordinary value for my clients. I am a partner in Alliance Law Firm International PLLC in Washington. My specialties include tax, wealth management, estates, corporations/business, venture capital, private equity, and natural resources. Prior to practicing law, I had a decade-long career in international private equity and investment banking. I have worked on building and managing companies in technology, energy, materials, retail, and natural resources. I am licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania. I have degrees from the Georgetown University Law Center (JD) and the Yale School of Management (MBA).
Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Dimitry Alexander Kaplun had been involved with many industries and professions, and helped manage, create, and advise a wide range of businesses around the world. While at Drexel University as a computer science major, he became an NASD licensed representative and was employed by Fortune 100 insurance companies, including Prudential, AIG, and NY Life, first specializing in financial investments for life and annuity products, and then expanding his expertise to mutual finds, stocks, environmental insurance, and real property. Due to his technical expertise and a clear understanding of business rules, he was soon brought on board to help assist those companies with coding their interface for the Y2K switch. Soon after switching his major to business, Mr. Kaplun worked for a telecommunication service company first in quality assurance and then as a database programmer and developer, with sole and exclusive responsibilities for a multitude of warehouses located around the continental United States. Working on-site and from the company headquarters, he was responsible for streamlining processes for internal departments while fulfilling the quickly changing needs to the company clients, most notably Verizon Wireless. Mr. Kaplun opened his practice in 2008. Prior to starting his practice, he worked as a paralegal instructor for Prism Career Institute, creating the lesson plans for the whole program and focusing his instruction on substantive and procedural laws for general practitioners. Mr. Kaplun also worked as an associate for The Law Office of Keith Owen Campbell PC, focusing on Family and Matrimonial Law, and assisted the law firm of Jeffrey Neu and Associates in securities research as well as various contact and sales agreements, mainly online reseller agreements. He currently focuses his energy on representing individuals and companies in liability insulation, contracts and business agreements, and other legal concerns that crop up in the regular operation of doing business.
