Mark up an employment contract to show which clauses you will accept, query and negotiate.
Mark up your contract so that every clause that matters carries one of three marks: accept, ask or negotiate. You then turn those marks into one email to the hiring manager or HR.
So far in this module you have read contracts clause by clause, which is slow the first time. Marking up makes it fast. A marked-up contract has every key clause highlighted and marked accept, ask or negotiate. It shows at a glance which clauses you accept, which you need explained and which you want changed, and it converts directly into an email.
The exercise takes about 30 minutes. Use your own contract or a job offer you have received. If you don't have one, use the sample contract that comes with the course. You need a highlighter or a PDF tool that can highlight and comment, plus your notes from lessons 6.1 to 6.4.
Read the whole contract once without stopping. Then go back and highlight five kinds of clause:
probation and notice, including salary in lieu and any rule on leave offsetting notice every bonus, incentive or extra payment, plus any clawback or training bond restrictive clauses: non-compete, non-solicit, non-dealing and confidentiality anything that refers to another document, such as an employee handbook, a policy or a separate agreement any key employment term from MOM's list that is missing or vague
The last two kinds are easy to miss because they are about what is not on the page. A reference to "company policies" points to rules you haven't seen yet, and a missing term is a question you haven't asked yet.
Give each highlighted clause one of three marks, with a one-line reason beside it. Accept means you have read the clause, understand it and are comfortable with it. Ask means you need it explained or confirmed before you can decide. Negotiate means you understand it and want it changed.
Use negotiate sparingly. If you mark everything, nothing stands out and the employer can't tell what matters to you. In a fair contract most clauses are accept, so keep negotiate for the one or two that would really cost you.
Next, build a clause table with four columns: the clause and its number, what it says in your own words, your mark, and the reason. Writing each clause in your own words is the real test of whether you understand it, so if you can't put a clause in your own words, mark it ask.
Kai Wen is the job candidate you have followed through this module. In lesson 6.1 the recruiter agreed on the phone that leave could offset notice by mutual agreement. In lesson 6.4 he sent an email, and the full contract arrived after it. He marked up that contract as follows.
Clause 3 sets probation at three months, extendable by three, with one week's notice either side. He marked it accept, because short notice during probation suits him too. He also marked clause 4 accept, which sets notice at one month after confirmation and allows salary in lieu.
Clause 6 makes the thirteenth month contractual. It is pro-rated in year one and not paid if he is serving notice on the payment date. He marked it ask, to confirm whether "serving notice" includes notice given by the company.
Clause 7 gives a sign-on bonus of S$10,000 (an example figure), clawed back pro rata over 24 months if he resigns. He marked it accept, because the recruiter had already confirmed in writing that the clawback didn't apply if the company ended his job.
Clause 12 is a non-compete covering twelve months, Southeast Asia and any competing business. It would rule out much of his field, so he marked it negotiate and planned to ask for six months and direct competitors only.
Clause 15 says the handbook forms part of the contract and can be amended. He marked it ask, so that he could find out how the company communicates changes to the handbook.
Take every ask and negotiate row and turn them into one short, polite email to the hiring manager or HR. Group and number the questions, and keep each one to a sentence or two. Put negotiation points last, each with a specific alternative. An employer finds it easier to say yes to a concrete proposal than to a complaint, so suggest what you want instead of only objecting.
If anyone made you a promise verbally, for example a recruiter on the phone, get it in writing before you sign.
Kai Wen's email had four points: a question on clause 6, a question on clause 15, his non-compete proposal of six months and direct competitors only, and a request for written confirmation that leave could offset notice by mutual agreement.
Before you send it, reread the email as the person receiving it would and cut anything that sounds like a complaint. Every question should make sense without the contract in front of them, and the tone should be what you'd want from a new colleague.
If you signed your contract long ago, your email may be shorter, or just one question for HR. It is still worth sending, because a question asked while nothing is at stake gets a calmer answer than one asked during a resignation.
You finish with three things. A marked-up contract, with every key clause highlighted and marked accept, ask or negotiate. A clause table with your own summary and a one-line reason for each mark. And a drafted email, with your questions and at most one or two negotiation points, ready to send.
Mark up the contract, fill in the clause table and draft the email with your questions.
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