Worrying clauses in contract

LegacyUser

I've been offered a fairly senior technical position with a small, but growing, software firm.

The contract offered is fairly standard stuff but there are two clauses that give me cause for concern.

The first one is "The company may dismiss you if, in the opinion of the company, your standard of work is deemed unacceptable."

This bothers me as there is no mention of how they define an acceptable standard of work. Every other contract I have signed has talked about agreeing targets or comparing to industry standards or the like.

The other clause is a bit more worrying. "The company may alter this contract at any time. Although you will be given a chance to make representations regarding any such changes, you agree to accept and adhere to the decision of the company."

This clause bothers me as it seems to give them the right to force through contract changes even if I disagree - which I though was illegal as contract changes need to be agreed upon by both parties before they take affect.

I have queried this with the employer and they said its "all standard stuff, nothing to worry about". However, when I asked for changes to clarify and defines what acceptable performance is as well as removing the second clause about unilateral contract changes I was told it was a take it or leave it situation.

I suspect these clauses can be used to get rid of employees easily. I also understand from this page http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/contracts_of_employment/change_job_contract.html that the contract change clause seems a bit dodgy legally speaking.

So ultimately what i am asking is would you sign a contract with these clauses?

Mrs OBumble

No. Not the 2nd one. It's illegal, but you can't do anything about it without it costing you a lot.

Unless I was desperate for a job.

livedadream

ContractConcerns wrote: »

The first one is "The company may dismiss you if, in the opinion of the company, your standard of work is deemed unacceptable."

if they did this they would have to prove the same as any other company that they followed best practice in regards to supporting you to get better and improve their performance, its poorly worded but you are still protected by the same laws as those with excellently worded contracts.

This bothers me as there is no mention of how they define an acceptable standard of work. Every other contract I have signed has talked about agreeing targets or comparing to industry standards or the like.

you mentioned its a small newish company, they are probably not at the stage where they are aware contracts don't come into it when your sacked for performance.

I have queried this with the employer and they said its "all standard stuff, nothing to worry about". However, when I asked for changes to clarify and defines what acceptable performance is as well as removing the second clause about unilateral contract changes I was told it was a take it or leave it situation.

So ultimately what i am asking is would you sign a contract with these clauses?[/QUOTE]

Yes.

what they are saying isnt illegal its just worded poorly, software start-ups in general are low key with it comes to employment contracts and the like.

it sounds like they are trying to sound smarter than the are:

''The company may alter this contract at any time. Although you will be given a chance to make representations regarding any such changes, you agree to accept and adhere to the decision of the company''

this wouldn't bother me as it reads like they are trying to say something normal and just phrased it wrong, its a start up, it happens.

but it goes to your favour, if the contract is weak its easier to get out of. and hard to defend from their perspective.

davo10

Is this a fixed term contract?

mitresize5

if you have senior technical experience in the software industry then walk away from it.

you can have your pick of jobs .... in fact if you have C# skills and are available to work in the mid west I'll employ you myself ;-)

LegacyUser

Its a permanent role. The company is 15 yeas old, it used to be big but massively reduced in size due to the recession as it made marketing tools for banks, now its growing again.

I am a C# dev, been at it since version 1 i n 2001. But I'm stuck in Dublin right now due to family.

This job has a great salary and perks, but that contract change clause really bothers me - enough to not be swayed by the above average salary.

Also the background check company they use apparently offered my ex-boss Asda vouchers to fill out their full (marketing oriented) questionnaire...

Irish_Elect_Eng

Is it an Irish company?

Perhaps you can simply point out to them that you are concerned that the clause is in fact illegal and ask them to review the contract wording with an appropriate legal expert.

Don't make it about you accepting or rejecting the contract, simply ask them to correct this obvious error and re-present it for your approval. How they respond should tell you a lot about how they dos business and may make up your mind about what they would be like to work for.

I have returned contracts for correction, added & removed clauses in the past with my employers and there was very little hassle when the changes were balanced and fair to both parties. For example, In moving to a new role I redlined a contract to match the holiday allowance from my previous company, and reduced teh notice period from 3 to 1 month. And in another case, on receiving a promotion I removed the notice period and corrected the reporting structure in the contract that I was offered.

The contract issuance review and approval is all part of the negotiating process and they should not be surprised if you have edits or requests to add to the contract.