Employment Agreement Fine Print

Be sure you’re agreeing to what you want, when you take a job. Don’t misread employment application fine print.

Many companies include a mandatory arbitration clause. That means you agree to give up your right to take disputes to court, even when the employer has broken the law.

Employers in financial services, health care and pharmaceuticals usually favor arbitration because it keeps costs down. It also prevents cases from being out in the media.

When the case goes to an arbitrator, the grounds for appeal are limited. The National Employment Lawyers Association estimates that more than 30 million Americans are bound by arbitration clauses at work.

A recent study found that arbitrators decided in favor of employees about 30% of the time, and when the individual arbitrator had worked previously on a case with the employer, the employee won only 12% of the time. Employees can often fare better in court because jurors are more easily swayed.

Arbitrators are not necessarily prejudiced. They may be wiser than jurors. But employees do not always have the better case. (See the Earl J Weinreb NewsHole® comments.)