Posts Tagged ‘self employed’

EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS AND AT-WILL EMPLOYEES. PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS!

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Employer-employee relations are guided by the terms and conditions of the employment contract.

An employment contract is a legal agreement that is agreed upon by both the employer and the employee.

An employment contract usually contains the following:

• Name of the employer

• Name of the employee

• Job title and description

• Address of the workplace

• Details of payment

• Hours worked each week

• Holiday entitlement

• Sickness entitlement

• Grievance arrangements

• Termination of contracts notice

• Redundancy

• Disciplinary procedures

• Signatures of both the employer and the employee

In the United States, most employment contracts do not contain duration of tenure as most employees are considered to be at-will.

This means that the employer and the employee are free to terminate the employment contract anytime for any cause.

However, there are three exceptions where a firing of an at-will employee which may be the basis for a wrongful termination.

The three exceptions are:

• Breach of contract – This occurs if the employer expressly or implicitly stated a promise to an employee about a degree of job security. These statements could normally be found on employee’s handbooks or memorandums given to employees when they are hired. Courts usually interpret these as unilateral contracts where the employer promises the employee that he/she will not be terminated except for just cause.

• Breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing – This occurs when an employee contends that the employer has indicated in various ways that the employee will be given job security and will be treated fairly. Repeated promotions, pay increases, length of service, and positive performance reviews could be interpreted as signs that as long as they do their job satisfactorily then their job will be secure.

• Violations of public policy – This occurs when the termination of an employee violates or undermines existing federal and state laws. The following are examples of violations of public policy:

o Terminating an employee because he/she availed of the Family Medical Leave benefits. That right was given to the employee by the state and firing him/her over it undermines the state as well.

o Terminating an employee because he/she refuses to commit illegal act.

o Termination of an employee did not follow procedures. The company’s employee handbook usually contains the proper procedures that must be followed when an employee is terminated. If the procedure was not followed, the employee may file for wrongful termination charges.

Employment at-will still remains unclear in many states. Legislatures and court decisions continue to shape and answer the debate over how to protect employees from wrongful termination while still allowing employers the freedom to make personnel changes.

Employers now are taking measures to guard themselves against wrongful termination suits by adding express employment-at will causes to employment contracts and deleted potentially troublesome statement from their handbooks.

Employees should consult with an expert wrongful termination attorney to know if they have a winning case against their employers.

Retailers Forum Magazine, leader in wholesale merchandise sources presents this informative article designed to help your business. The author invites you to visit:
http://www.expertlosangelesattorney.com

WHAT EVERY BUDDING ENTRPRENEUR NEEDS TO KNOW!

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Many individuals nowadays prefer to have a home-based business rather than working at a job eight hours each day in the office or somewhere else where you have no control over your own working life. Some people are also into franchising and this may sound good but if you want to become a successful entrepreneur, then it is better if you don’t have to focus entirely on franchising. You should consider other business ideas that you can venture into. And in today’s world there are more opportunities than you can even begin to imagine.

With all of the resources available today research can be carried out with ease these days, thanks to the power of the internet. If you conduct your search online, you can find other business ideas that you can use as an entrepreneur. Beginners will especially benefit a lot, from the information they can find online about business ideas. Because of the many business ideas you can find online, you will often find it hard to choose the ones you like. It can be very easy to choose if you use your instincts. For instance, if one business idea feels right, take note of it but if you have second thoughts about another idea, disregard it. When you are first starting out it is hard to come up with these ideas that will work. It is therefore to your benefit when you find someone who is very successful, you should then study what they do and try to duplicate the system. But be careful and use your own material and do not plagiarize someone else’s.

As an entrepreneur, you should investigate further by gathering as much information as possible about the business ideas. True enough, franchise is absolutely a great idea. By choosing this business alternative, you can be the boss of your own business and you can earn unlimited income. However, according to experts, franchise and other internet businesses promise the same business opportunities. It will all differ on how you handle the business. The biggest differences are in the startup costs. Many franchises today have a minimum of $20,000 to $50,000 just to open the doors, whereas an internet business is usually only a few hundred dollars.

Not all individuals who desire to own a business can achieve this goal. In fact most never make it. What most people fail to realize is that being an entrepreneur is very hard work. There are many different factors to consider before you decide to become an entrepreneur. Even if you have the capital to finance the business undertaking, you can’t really be sure that it can give you high profits in the future, especially if you don’t know how to handle certain business situations like the marketing of your product.

Here is a very good example. As mentioned earlier, further investigation is needed to evaluate the business ideas that you have in your hands. Starting a business from scratch requires a lot of work. Suppose the business that you’re about to put up is also available in franchise, which business idea will you choose? For the smart entrepreneurs, they will already go for franchising because it requires less work. An established business undertaking is less expensive and less risky. But before you make a final decision, you must be able to weigh all the advantages as well as disadvantages. This is an essential part of choosing the best business idea.

First and foremost, you must be able to work alone. Once you’re an entrepreneur, you’re already self-employed. It would also be best if you can have the support of your loved ones. Once you’ve chosen the right business idea, you can spring it into action. Soon enough, you will gain the financial benefits that you’re dreaming of. Whether you choose to start your own business on the internet or you decide to build up your own brick and mortar business or even go for franchising, the most important thing is to develop goodwill. All the actions of the entrepreneur must be focused in attaining all the objectives of the business.

If you want to become an entrepreneur, you must research all the business ideas that you can get online. The internet can help you a lot. Also, don’t forget to develop the needed traits and skills as an entrepreneur. You can get many resources through the internet or you can talk to an established entrepreneur so that you will have an idea on what you’re about to undertake. You can also take some classes from a local college that will help give you more information on starting up and running a business. With good research and using your instincts it will make it much easier to find the right business. Once you have found it remember it will take a lot of work to build it up, but once you have it there, you will be well on your way to being a successful entrepreneur.

About The Author: Randall Drake is an accomplished writer of many different types of articles ranging from how to start your own business to advanced marketing techniques. A successful business owner himself he also reaches out to the community to help them be successful in their own business. Randall invites you to visit his website at: Randy’s Home Biz Ideas and sign up for his free newsletter today. http://www.drakesinternetservices.com. This article brought to you by the leading magazine for wholesale merchandise, Retailers Forum Magazine.