So if you are very worried, I recommend dishing out a few hundred dollars to talk to a lawyer. Call a few... sometimes they’ll give quick advice for free.
Side note, I am very curious what these new clauses are!
This was an email I sent to a company I wound up working for after we (my lawyer and I) changed their 9 page "standard contract":
---------------
Hi guys,
Who signs these “standard contracts”?
4.2. In the event the Provider is in breach of any of the representations or warranties set forth in Section 4.1 above, in addition to any other remedies ZZZ may have under this Agreement, ZZZ, at its sole option and without incurring any liability, may: (d) Recover any and all actual, incidental and consequential damages to ZZZ, including but not limited to actual or estimated loss of profits and sales and costs to cover, attorney’s fees and costs;
Nice try but yeah, no. ;-)
If I can strike out the unreasonable parts we can probably come to some agreement.
-Chris
----------------------
In case you didn't read it, it was this is what was outrageous:
including but not limited to actual or estimated loss of profits and sales and costs to cover, attorney’s fees and costs
Not that I disagree with crossing it out - that is a good call. It just isn't as glaring of an evil clause as it might appear.
This is why I would recommend OP pay for an hour of a lawyers time to read over the contract and give some advice. Because what sounds scary is often meaningless and what sounds benign is often actually fairly unreasonable. If you aren't experienced reading contracts, it is worth the cost to get some help.
One reason might be to have the non-legal but moral upperhand: "Hey, don't be angry - you agreed to these conditions when you signed the contract."
Even if they don't matter in court, I think asking to strike these parts is still good idea. And be it just to see how they react to your suggestion.
I believe that everyone in the corporate world, or even wider, should go through a "Law 101" course just to learn the basics of contract law and how our legal system works, so people can recognize such behaviors.
I can usually handle 1 or 2 page contracts but when I see something like this, "What other thing are in here." and I give it to my lawyer.
For example, some jurisdictions say it is legal for an employer to write a contract that says they own anything you do in your spare time outside of work (US New York) but others set firmer limits on what the company can legally claim (US California). But in either case, you can just refuse to agree to it and negotiate better terms before signing.
But then, I've mostly worked in small companies; I suspect a FAANG is pretty different in that regard.
I appreciate your experience. I think it depends on a lot on the company, where you work, your level of experience, etc.
When I've done work for smaller companies, I've often negotiated the terms with little to no issue (literally striking lines/paragraphs from the agreement as long as it was reasonable). But if you work for a FAANG, negotiating the legal terms is probably not going to happen unless you are a high level employee with a custom contract since they have a standardized hiring process for thousands of employees.
It also depends on your role and level of experience. The more senior you are or the more key the hire, the more you can probably negotiate. If you are a fresh hire from college, then you probably won't have any leverage at all.
Finally, I think your experience will vary a lot by how tight the market is for hiring someone in your position in that area. I've seen key technical hires in Silicon Valley negotiate all kinds of things if the company really wants to hire them. I've also seen people in roles like Project Managers and Designers be completely shut out of negotiating when the local market wasn't as competitive. Finally, I've seen people in less tech-dense cities with less market competition have no negotiating power even if they were senior hires.
Also, don't forget that even if some of the clauses they're trying to impose on you may not be legal or enforceable where you live and work, it usually takes a court to make that determination. So it's a matter of understanding what the impact of these new clauses is and what risks you take by accepting them.
And please, please don't accept the "oh, but we're never going to enforce those clauses". You don't want to be the first person they get enforced against. If the employer comes back with that statement, ask them to take out the offending clauses.
Question: Are you willing to post the entire employment contract unredacted on the internet (or email it to some John Doe you don't know) ?
Yes ? Fine. Maybe you might get some reasonable ideas.
No ? Well, go see a lawyer. Since anyone offering you advice without sight of the unredacted document is simply talking out of their backside and taking guesses in the dark.
But remember: You won't get legal advice there.
I would check and see, you may have a legal team already on tap.
If you have questions about your employment contract, spend a few bucks for an hour or two of legal consult who knows the laws in your jurisdiction.
If you have real questions, this is the (long term) inexpensive way to get things answered.