Negotiating Employment Contracts in Georgia

Before negotiating an employment contract in Georgia, research the range of compensation and benefits, including job protections and the limits non-disclosure agreements place on employee rights. Employment contracts may include confidentiality and other restrictive covenants, with contract remedies for breach, but under Georgia law, an employment relationship of indefinite duration is generally terminable at will by either party. Employers seeking to keep trade secrets private include non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in their termination provisions, which you can negotiate for severance pay.

What To Do if You Notice Your Paycheck Is Lower

Let’s say that, for some reason, your paycheck this week was lower than it used to be, though it’s only a few dollars off. What can you do?

Once upon a time, the best thing you could do was band together with your coworkers and file a class action lawsuit. However, in 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court released an opinion, Epic Systems Corp.v. Lewis, that held that companies may use arbitration or dispute resolution clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from banding together to take legal action over workplace issues. The ruling was a blow to employee rights.

“Our view is that it will likely have the effect that AT&T v. Concepcion case had concerning consumer contracts,” says Adam Hoipkemier, a business litigation lawyer at Epps, Holloway, DeLoach & Hoipkemier in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Employment defense lawyers and law firms are coming out with products aimed at assisting employers with rewriting their employment agreements with arbitration clauses and class waivers. That trend is likely to escalate.”

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Mandatory Arbitration and the Possibility of Bringing a Case

These mandatory arbitration clauses do not mean a claim doesn’t have the possibility to be heard. But it does control how a case can be heard.

Arbitration still offers an opportunity for both sides of a dispute to be heard, and agreements in arbitration can be substantial. But arbitration takes time, and hiring attorneys could be expensive — maybe too expensive when you’re just looking to collect a small amount for an employer.

What Does This Mean for Employees?

Employees won’t be able to bring their claims in court or as a class action, which many wage and hour cases are. The damages are typically not enough to justify an individual lawsuit, so your only relief is often through a class action.

“The effect is that you’re left without a remedy for wage-and-hour claims, and other claims, that would be brought up in a class action,” says Hoipkemier. “In a nutshell, people are basically out of luck.”

Employees need to be mindful of the small print and try to negotiate where they can. Anything can be negotiable. “Folks need to be aware up front of the fact that employers are including these things in their contracts, and to try to get them to negotiate it out,” says Hoipkemier.

Find Legal Help

If contracts don’t have these clauses, and you’re experiencing wage-and-hour losses, you should reach out to a reputable, experienced wage and hour law attorney.