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Default May 30, 2020 at 12:33 PM
  #1
I was offered a job on a Wednesday, on the phone and then by email. I was surprised when the contract details were embedded in the email itself. No signatures, just email. I replied that it should be written up as a formal contract and signed by a director of the company. That was on Wednesday morning. I added three clauses regarding vacation pay, overtime pay and statutory holiday pay. The email reply on Wednesday indicated they would get back to me quickly. The initial verbal and email offer was May 27, with a start date of June 1.

I enquired on Thursday about the update to the contract and was told it was coming. On Friday, at 4:00 pm, I got the contract. The contract made it clear none of the clauses I requested would be agreed to. In addition, there was a new clause added that said:

The employee agrees they have been given the opportunity to review this agreement with a lawyer.

Who can consult with a lawyer at 4:00 pm on a Friday? Surely they knew this.

The combination of the timing of the final delivery of the contract, the unwillingness of the employer to agree to standard employment terms of vacation, overtime and stat holiday pay and the addition of clause that states I've been given the opportunity to consult with a lawyer when that was clearly not true, to me, indicates a minimum of manipulated pressure and a maximum of sheer dishonesty. It also indicates a complete disrespect at a very early stage of this new relationship.

I realize I could have changed the start date to June 2, which would have enabled me to consult with a lawyer. I believe all that would have accomplished with a lawyer visit is a $250 bill and a confirmation of my suspicions indicated above.

Reading between the lines is so important when you are given a contract.

Yes, I may be wrong, but it seemed to me they were completely unwilling to negotiate and I was lucky to dodge a bullet. Any other insights?
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Default May 30, 2020 at 12:49 PM
  #2
So did you decline to accept this position?

If vacation pay and other benefits are important to you, I’d tell them I need more time to talk to a lawyer and to re negotiate my contract. It also depends on your circumstances. If you need a job to survive ASAP or if you can wait for something better etc

generally I’d not sign a contract that says I was given an opportunity when clearly I wasn’t given an opportunity at 4pm before the weekend. Sounds shady to me
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Default May 30, 2020 at 01:13 PM
  #3
Thank you for your comments. I did decline the contract. When you say "it sounds shady," that would be the basis for my turning down the contract. I know I could have tried, and possibly gotten, the three terms I wanted added to the contract. I didn't view that as the determining factor. I think if you feel you have to watch your back before you even start working there, then perhaps it's not the right fit.

When I read something, whether a book, blog, article or a contract, I read between the lines. Most people don't realize they are saying much more than what they are writing on the page.

They also added four termination clauses. I'm used to seeing one or two. All contracts have a termination clause. But there seemed to be an over abundance of termination clauses. It made me think they already had termination on their mind. So they were hiring me to do a clean-up job, then after 89 days they were going to replace me with someone who would do the job for less pay. I would do the hardest clean-up work, but once that was done, they wouldn't need someone of my calibre any longer.

For me, my intuition is everything. And I've found I'm accurate about 85% of the time. I do make mistakes. But in this case, the peculiar signs seemed to be very obvious. Fortunately for me, I'm having very great success with getting job interviews.

Again, thanks for your comment.
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