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Managing Contract Risks for HR Professionals - Excellence in Preparing Employment Contracts
This interactive course will provide participants with the fundamentals of employment contract law. How to properly vary terms and conditions of an employment contract? How to spot a breach of contract and what remedies are available?
Not properly drafted employment clauses may lead to employment disputes especially in termination issues. It cannot be assumed that termination clause in the employment contract is enforceable. What is the "reasonable" notice for dismissal? A wrongful dismissal is a breach of contract and this course will explain the often misunderstood term of "wrongful dismissal". Investigation & Internal Inquiry for Summary Dismissal will be discussed. Case-studies will be presented to enhance learning.
Contractual legal risks need to be tackled in careful negotiations and the 12 Golden Rules for employment contract drafting will be provided.
Not properly drafted employment clauses may lead to employment disputes especially in termination issues. It cannot be assumed that termination clause in the employment contract is enforceable. What is the "reasonable" notice for dismissal? A wrongful dismissal is a breach of contract and this course will explain the often misunderstood term of "wrongful dismissal". Investigation & Internal Inquiry for Summary Dismissal will be discussed. Case-studies will be presented to enhance learning.
Contractual legal risks need to be tackled in careful negotiations and the 12 Golden Rules for employment contract drafting will be provided.
Objective
- Exploring the principles of contract interpretation
- The Hexagon Principle for drafting success
- Brevity and clarity in drafting terms of employment
- The common mistakes to avoid in drafting employment contract
- Excellence in successful negotiations - PIOC techniques
- Learning how to vary employment contract terms properly
- Pitfalls & challenges of termination clause - it may not be enforceable!
Outline
1. Negotiating & Drafting Skills
- Getting to ‘Yes’ - the PIOC negotiation techniques
- the 5 break-though strategies in handling difficult negotiations
- the essential terms to negotiate for
- misrepresentations in negotiations & its consequences
- difference between a statement of fact and a contract term
- fundamentals of basic drafting skills
- Common errors and pitfalls in drafting employment provisions
- structure and format of employment contracts
- contractual interpretation principles in employment
2. Fundamentals of Employment Contract
- what constitutes an invitation to treat, offer & acceptance?
- intention to create legal relations
- what is the "consideration"?
- capacity to contract on age and mentally ill persons
- doctrine of privity of contract
- Contract (Right of Third Parties) Act
- doctrine of variation of contract & its 4 exceptions
- how to vary or amend employment terms?
3. The Employment Terms
- which terms are "conditions" or "warranties"?
- provisions of Employment Act & other relevant legislations
- what terms are implied into every employment contracts?
- express terms and implied terms
- illegal and void employment terms
- effect of contract in restraint of trade clauses
- non-solicitation clause
- summary dismissal provision and the common law
- who can terminate?
- governing law
- notice period
- summary dismissal and unfair dismissal
- protected employees
- grounds for termination
- pre-termination requirements
- voluntary severance payments
- retrenchment benefits
- contract and the common law
4. Discharge of Contracts
- 4 ways to discharge employment contracts
- type of breaches and its remedies
- damages compensation, specific performance and injunctions
- damages must not be too remote and be foreseeable
- how to measure damages?
- principle of mitigation - alternative employment
- liquidated damages and the doctrine of penalty
- resolving disputes - mediation as extended form of negotiation
5. Investigation & Internal Inquiry for Summary Dismissal
- Evidence of misconduct - Employer’s choices
- Examples of misconduct and misconduct clause
- Summary Dismissal requires:
- due cause
- due process
- requirements for Internal Inquiry
- Getting to ‘Yes’ - the PIOC negotiation techniques
- the 5 break-though strategies in handling difficult negotiations
- the essential terms to negotiate for
- misrepresentations in negotiations & its consequences
- difference between a statement of fact and a contract term
- fundamentals of basic drafting skills
- Common errors and pitfalls in drafting employment provisions
- structure and format of employment contracts
- contractual interpretation principles in employment
2. Fundamentals of Employment Contract
- what constitutes an invitation to treat, offer & acceptance?
- intention to create legal relations
- what is the "consideration"?
- capacity to contract on age and mentally ill persons
- doctrine of privity of contract
- Contract (Right of Third Parties) Act
- doctrine of variation of contract & its 4 exceptions
- how to vary or amend employment terms?
3. The Employment Terms
- which terms are "conditions" or "warranties"?
- provisions of Employment Act & other relevant legislations
- what terms are implied into every employment contracts?
- express terms and implied terms
- illegal and void employment terms
- effect of contract in restraint of trade clauses
- non-solicitation clause
- summary dismissal provision and the common law
- who can terminate?
- governing law
- notice period
- summary dismissal and unfair dismissal
- protected employees
- grounds for termination
- pre-termination requirements
- voluntary severance payments
- retrenchment benefits
- contract and the common law
4. Discharge of Contracts
- 4 ways to discharge employment contracts
- type of breaches and its remedies
- damages compensation, specific performance and injunctions
- damages must not be too remote and be foreseeable
- how to measure damages?
- principle of mitigation - alternative employment
- liquidated damages and the doctrine of penalty
- resolving disputes - mediation as extended form of negotiation
5. Investigation & Internal Inquiry for Summary Dismissal
- Evidence of misconduct - Employer’s choices
- Examples of misconduct and misconduct clause
- Summary Dismissal requires:
- due cause
- due process
- requirements for Internal Inquiry
Who should attend
Human Resource Professionals and anyone who needs to understand contract law for employment contracts. You do not need to have legal knowledge to attend this course.
Profile of Catherine Tay
Catherine Tay has over 35 years of lecturing experience as an Associate Professor lecturing business law at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Strategy and Policy, NUS Business School. She is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. She is also a barrister-at-law (of Lincoln’s Inn, United Kingdom). She is an author of more than 8 law books, including her best-seller book title called "Contract Law - A layman Guide".
She studied law at Queen Mary College, University of London and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and with a Master of Laws, in which she specialised in Company, Shipping, Insurance and Marine Insurance Laws.
She has facilitated seminars and in-house training courses for many business law topics such as tenancy agreements, contract administration management, procurement contracts, legal and practical aspects of tender management, Service Level Agreements and Outsourcing contracts, oil and gas contract management, insurance contracts, Intellectual Property Laws and PDPA data privacy laws. She is an examiner on law subjects for a number of professional bodies and universities in Singapore and overseas. She has lectured at the NUS Extension in professional and business management law courses.
She was an adjunct lecturer at NUS Institute of System Science, in IT outsourcing contracts for over 20 years. She is the Honourable Legal Advisor for Singapore Optometric Association, as well as for the Singapore Institute of Engineering Technologists.
