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There is a list of Employment Agreements available at the following website: http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/type/compensation/employment.html
Many of these are for software companies, but appear to be just for large publicly traded companies. It is likely these were gleaned from SEC filings under the requirement for "material contracts" to be filed. Contracts like this for non-public companies software companies are likely to be subject to confidentiality requirements and difficult to obtain.
Perhaps others in the forum would be willing to share their rules of thumb.
Categories: Human Resources
I am a seasoned Software CEO that has recently move from the investor world to take over the reigns of a small, profitable, rapidly growing software company. I began a few months ago on a hand shake (which is my style). The board is proving to be a little difficult to pin down on my package and they offered to put an employment contract in place. I have never had one and never required one but given they are shifting the terms somewhat; I would like to bolt everything down with a contract. What are reasonable terms these days? What should one expect in the way of non-compete and severance? Are there any good examples out there?
November 14, 2004 5:35 PM
- What severance and so forth would be reasonable?
- Sample contract?
They're really separate issues. I can't really answer the first question, but I think a lot would depend on what you bring to the table, what resources the company has, and your respective negotiating leverage. (BTW, it seems to me you give up a lot of leverage by starting work without a contract -- but perhaps that cuts both ways: they don't want to lose you now that you are in harness.)
Who cares what's standard? What's important to you? Do you have a big mortgage and very specialized experience? Then perhaps a large severance is important to you. Are you confident you could get another position and don't want to limit your options? Then maybe you should negotiate a very minimal non-compete. And so forth ...
In terms of the other issue, specific verbiage, I would think you should be able to find something with a Web search. But this seems to me to be important enough to require real, local legal review. Employment laws (i.e., what terms are enforceable) vary radically from state to state, so any general example has limited reliability. The last thing you need is an unenforceable contract.
What should one expect in the way of non-compete and severance? Are there any good examples out there?Those are really two separate issues:
- What severance and so forth would be reasonable?
- Sample contract?
They're really separate issues. I can't really answer the first question, but I think a lot would depend on what you bring to the table, what resources the company has, and your respective negotiating leverage. (BTW, it seems to me you give up a lot of leverage by starting work without a contract -- but perhaps that cuts both ways: they don't want to lose you now that you are in harness.)
Who cares what's standard? What's important to you? Do you have a big mortgage and very specialized experience? Then perhaps a large severance is important to you. Are you confident you could get another position and don't want to limit your options? Then maybe you should negotiate a very minimal non-compete. And so forth ...
In terms of the other issue, specific verbiage, I would think you should be able to find something with a Web search. But this seems to me to be important enough to require real, local legal review. Employment laws (i.e., what terms are enforceable) vary radically from state to state, so any general example has limited reliability. The last thing you need is an unenforceable contract.
April 20, 2006 7:36 PM
I would look at the book, Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+. You can find it on Amazon.
The author has numerous clauses and concerns to consider. Title, location, severance, cliff vesting, etc.
Ted Finch 512-947-7016 tedfinch att chanimal.com www.chanimal.com (Chanimal - The Ultimate Resource for Software Marketing)
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View unverified member's comment - posted by Jay Pimentel