Why Should I Sign This (Stupid?) Contract?

[monstergirl]

Well, I've been offered employment (6-month contract position) through a recruiting agency with CH2M Hill at Hanford (mmm... radioactive) in Richland, WA. This would mean at least a 4.5 hour drive each way each week, which would be much longer in the winter going over the mountain pass. Now, I feel I'm willing to do this because it would give me good experience and the pay is comparable to what I used to get, with the expectation of health insurance, which I can continue my COBRA coverage for a while since you don't have to drop COBRA if your current position doesn't offer heath insurance.

There are other provisions, such as unilateral modification by the Hello Kitty Group, and attorneys fees that the loser must pay. The rest of the contract seems pretty reasonable to me.

Anyway, I got my paperwork in the mail yesterday, after giving a verbal acceptance of the position. Lo-and-behold, it comes with a contract. An actual contract. I'm not against making a committment, but this contract is only to cover the recruiting agency's butt. It has nothing to cover my own butt.

I'm trying to figure out if they are trying to say that I can't look for any other jobs while in their employ, or if I just misread that part. Ive changed the name of the agency, but it says:

Term. The term of the Agreement shall be a minimum of 6 months measured from the first day of work at the client work site, and shall extend until the client indicates the assignment is over or until terminated as provided for in Paragraph 10. Once placed with the above-mentioned client the employee will remain with the Hello Kitty Group until assignment termination, and may not move to the employ of any other technical service while placed at the client site."

Paragraph 10 is about termination, which basically says anyone can fire me for any reason at any time. Of course, part of it is that the Hello Kitty Group can terminate the contract at any time, but it says nothing about me being able to terminate the contract at any time.

So the questions is, is this a stupid thing for me to agree to? I mean, it doesn't do anything to protect me or my future. I'm interested in the job, but I can hold out on unemployment and my savings for a while longer and I don't have any other obligations such as children, so if this backfires on me and I lose my house or something, it only affects me.

I need to decide soon. I should send the paperwork back today, but I'll probably do it Monday. I just can't see how this is a good contract. Does this contract seem like a normal thing? Am I just being a baby? Do I need to just suck it up and do it??

HELP!!

[Sisyphus]

4.5 hours commute? I assume you're aware that there are only 24 hours in a calendar day. First sign you should decline is when your job starts to own you.
Also, I'm not sure if WA is the same as in any other state but usually employment is regarded as such an arrangement that either employer or employee can decide to terminate their relationship with no reason (aka "at will"). That doesn't mean you can't look for another job while in their employ, just that you can't double-dip. Why the contract doesn't say that you can quit is probably because you actually can. They just want to make it known that they can fire you without explanation, which is legal. Insofar as the 6-month contract or "until the client indicates the assignment is over" you realistically can expect to be employed for less than six months.
I'm not a lawyer. You should know that.

[elem]

sounds to me like you are free to look for other work during your time there, but not to actually start that job until you're done at HKG if it's a "technical service". also this paragraph states that the minimum period of placement is six months. this could mean that they may want to keep you longer, but would also mean that you are free to leave for greener pastures after that time without breaching the contract.

but i'm no contract lawyer.[/i]

[monstergirl]

Eek. Sorry, I didn't make my self clear. I'd commute weekly, not daily. They are even giving me per diem to cover some of the travel costs. It's not like I'm not interested in the position or that they are trying to screw me over. If I can figure out what the hell the above clause means, I'd feel better about accepting this position.

I'm just worried that if I found my permanent dream job, I couldn't take it. In this job market, no one is going to hold a position open for me until I'm done with a temp job.

What the hell is a technical service anyway?

[Rabbit_Fighter]

Do you have a digital copy of the contract? I've got lawyer friends and family all over the place, and I'm sure I could get somebody to look at it today or tomorrow.

[goose]

may want to include paragraph 10 in your analysis, since that appears to govern the "termination" of the contract. Have RF's buddy look at the contract. Non-competes are not worth the paper they are printed on here in Calif. I have no idea how Washington treats them.

[Mask]

Are there other companies that work at that site which employ contract workers as well?

If so, I would presume that the clause quoted prevents you from accepting a job from the Hello Kitty Group, then jumping ship to another company that also employs workers there.

For example, you accept the job from Hello Kitty, but then once you start working you talk to other workers employed by Powerslave (sorry listening to iron maiden and I have no imagination) company, who low and behold make more money than you do. So you decide that you want to work for powerslave company too.

That clause, I presume, would give Hello Kitty Group the grounds to possibly file a grievance, sue, whatever...

That's my take anyway. It would not prevent you from looking for another job somewhere else, that wouldn't be legal.

For ease of mind, I would have someone with legal expertise look at it and would also call the recruiter, HR person, or whoever you have been dealing with and express your concerns or at least ask them what that paragraph means and compare explanations.

[Rabbit_Fighter]

I did a little looking around at some internets, and only found info with how these clauses pertain to the termination by the employer. That is, everything is at will, unless there is a contract, whereby the employer limits the circumstances under which they can terminate employment.

Another thing you could do, is just ask them flat out. Explain that you have every intention of fulfilling the term of the contract, but don't want to find yourself in legal trouble should your personal circumstances change. It might not be a big deal, and they might be comfortable adding another sentence that clarifies your commitments.

Might not hurt to ask.

[monstergirl]

RF, I tried scanning in the contract only to find out my scanner is dead. Grumble grumble. Oh well. Thanks so much for the offer.

I did end up calling for clarification. The guys says it's mostly so I don't try to do the same position for a different engineering recruiting firm, which is pretty much what Mask pointed out. That makes sense, but it could be better written in the contract. The guy says that I'm not committing to stay there if I hate the job or if some perfect job comes along. I hope that he's true to what he says since I'm no lawyer.

Paragraph 10 states:

Termination. The Hello Kitty Group may terminate this Agreement at any time for cause, or, in the case of the cancellation of a Hello Kitty Group contract. You acknowledge that this relationship cannot be modified by any representation, agreement, document, course of dealing, or in any other way except for written amendment to this Agreement signed by Employee and authorization representative of the Hello Kitty Group.

Seems kind of normal to me.

Anyway, I'm going to chat with some other friends, unfortunately none of whom are lawyers, to see what they say.

I think this is a pretty standard contract, now that I seem to be a bit more clear about the Term clause. I'm just not used to having to sign a contract for a job beyond things such as confidentially agreements and such.

[Rock]

What evil nefarious plans is Hello Kitty doing in WA?

[Caliann]

Part of it is to keep your employers from hiring you directly.

Your temp company is paying you X dollars. Company they are sending you to is likely paying twice that much. However, that parent company has signed a contract to employ you for Y amount of time, which they pay the temp agency Z dollars...of which you get X amount.

Doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that, if they like you and want to keep you, they might offer you a dollar amount between X and Z....more than you are making but less than they are paying, causing both of you to have a financial advantage, but causing the temp agency to lose out.

They don't say it explicitly, but legally, the *client* is considered a technical service too.