In this Real Life Scenarios post, we share why understanding an employment contract can make a difference when workplace expectations, responsibilities, or employment relationships become unclear.
Why Employment Contracts Matter
The legal purpose of an employment contract is to document the legal relationship between the employer and the employee. The employment contract is signed by both the employer and employee to demonstrate that there is a clear understanding of what the expectations are during your employment. Everyone who gets a job will most likely have to sign an employment contract at some point. But how many of you understand that employment contract and what your rights and obligations are as an employee?
A Contractor’s Real-Life Employment Scenario
This is a situation regarding someone who was contracting for a federal government agency. This person was contracted to the federal government agency through a staffing agency. As far as establishing the legal relationship between employer and employee, the employer-employee relationship was with the staffing agency, not the federal government agency.
Shortly after starting the job, the contractor quickly realized that the job was misrepresented during the interview process. The contractor found the organization to be very disorganized, and the process was developed in a manner that did not meet industry standards. In the beginning, the contractor thought the problem was her and she just kept working harder to learn the process. Then the day came when she was asked to falsify data as part of the process.
Being the strong personality that she is, she said no. She argued with the leadership at the federal government agency. Before she could escalate the situation to the staffing agency and protect herself, she was asked to leave at the end of the day. Her badge was taken by the staffing agency, and she was removed from the premises.
This was a hard lesson about reading through and understanding the employment contracts that she signed with any staffing agency when operating as a contractor. She ended up becoming a whistleblower. There was a black eye put on any hopes she had of converting to federal government employment and she ended up consulting with a false claims’ attorney.
She knew she had a long fight ahead, but she was able to give a sigh of relief knowing that someone was willing to represent her interests. Consulting an attorney in employment disputes is not unheard of, especially in the case of filing a complaint against the staffing agency and the federal government. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a reality of the world we live in. Sometimes you need that help, but if she didn’t have the knowledge of reading through an employment contract she wouldn’t have been as effective in communicating with the false claims’ attorney. It was a key component to getting as far as she did.
Why Understanding the Contract Helped
She lost her right to go to court. They went through appeals in district court and were shut down. She was completely deflated and needed some space.
She was given the option of appealing to the Supreme Court, but she decided not to pursue the case any further. There was no speedy and public trial for her; that doesn’t apply in civil suits. But the education was invaluable, and it made her prioritize reading through the employment contract on all future employment opportunities, understanding her rights and obligations, and knowing how to protect herself the next time she feels threatened in an employment situation.
Key Takeaways
Learning the basics of reading an employment contract could be the difference between protecting yourself and finding yourself on the other end of an employment termination. The employer is always going to act in their own best interest regardless of whether the employee is on the right side of the ethical compass or not. She didn’t win her right to go to court, but she learned about her rights as a whistleblower and has used that knowledge in advocating for herself in future employment situations.
Understand Your Contracts with Confidence
Want to feel more confident reading the contracts in your life? Contract Clarus helps individuals and small business owners build contract literacy so they can better understand their rights, obligations, and responsibilities before issues arise.