Want to negotiate contract terms - new job - any advice on how?

[BiggerAndBadder]

Hi

Just been sent copy of contract for new job I am going to start soon.

The company is small and they outsource HR. The contract is the most in depth and covering all bases contract I have ever had.

There are some elements I am not happy with.

How negotiable have people found contract terms?

If anyone wants to help - i can go into more details.

The areas are notice periods, paying back any course fees they pay for me if i leave, and confidentiality - to the extent of saying i cant work for a competitor for 12 months if I leave their employ.

You won't be able to negotiate repayment of course fees, if you want them to pay course fees for you you have to expect them to set whatever terms they like around that, which is perfectly normal. If you don't accept that bit they just won't pay course fees for you.

The not working for a competitor for 12 months sounds very stringent and depending on what you do/what they define as a competitor and some other factors, may not be enforceable anyway.

What about the notice period?

Trouble is, all the things you want to negotiate are restrictions around you leaving employment, so you are hardly sounding committed to this new job if you start complaining about those.

I know!
I dont want to think about leaving the job! It is a great forward step for me - its just that things like this are better dealt with in advance?

The not working for a competitor - it comes under a paragraph entitled 'non solicitation' and actually may just be not nicking any contracts, enticing anyone else away, or using any info that is confidential - think i got this wrong actually!

The notice thing - it says 1 week while on probation (6 months) and 1 week in first year after probation (so 18 months on only 1 week ... gulp) but then it doesnt state a longer period after the first 18 months.

Also it doesnt state the bonus scheme in the contract - (or in the offer letter) it just says bonus scheme as agreed with managing director - do i need this in writing?

Also it was a bit unclear in my interview WHEN the bonus gets paid - I have targets, so not sure if only if i meet my target in a given month. (assume so)

It says my duties are as described in my job description - i havent had one, although i am clear on what my role is meant to be.

You are right it's best to get it all straight in advance, I agree.

Read the non-solicitation clause carefully, if it's the stuff about enticing away clients etc then it's less of an issue presumably. Usually when people want to renegotiate their notice period it's because they think it's too long, not too short. It will be longer after 18 months, or at least after 2 years because statutory notice then becomes one week per complete year of service.

There are obviously big advantages for them as well as you in having a slightly longer notice period, and asking to essentially be held to a greater commitment certainly balances out anything else you might be concerned about. Worth asking, but remember if they say no, you could be out of there in just a week if you wanted to be, which could be no bad thing, assuming you would be leaving to go to another job.

If you have been told part of your remuneration is a bonus scheme then yes you should ask for written details of the scheme, conditions, timings etc

Hadnt thought about it being to my advantage with the notice!

I think I just need to ask them to put the bonus scheme in writing, and then I am good to go!

Thanks