The headline number is the easy part. The termination clause, the non-compete, the IP assignment, and the bonus discretion language are where the offer gets clawed back. We inspect every clause, label what is structural, and flag what is going to crack under load.
Most offers limit severance to ESA minimums (1 week per year of service, capped at 8). Many of those clauses are voidable under recent Ontario Court of Appeal decisions. Useful only if you can afford to litigate it. Negotiate enhanced severance instead.
Ontario law has effectively killed post-employment non-competes for non-executives. But a former employer can still send a cease-and-desist that derails your next role. Negotiate the language out, not the enforceability around it.
Standard IP clauses assign anything you create during the term that 'relates to the company's business or anticipated business'. Your weekend side project becomes their property. Ask for a personal-time, personal-equipment, unrelated-domain carve-out — and a schedule of pre-existing IP attached to the offer.
If the bonus is at the company's 'sole and absolute discretion' with no formula, treat it as zero in your model. Negotiate measurable targets and a written set-and-review process, or treat the headline number as base alone.
Offer, employment agreement, equity plan, bonus plan, benefits summary. PDF only. No account, no login, no sales call.
Termination, non-compete, IP, bonus discretion, equity terms — cross-referenced, ranked by severity, tied to section numbers.
Plain-English report. Take it to an employment lawyer or use it directly to negotiate. Walk into the conversation prepared.
The without-cause clause limits entitlement to ESA minimums but the for-cause language is incorrect. Under Waksdale, this can void the entire termination section and revert to common-law reasonable notice.
Twelve months, all of Canada, any industry the company operates in. Largely unenforceable in Ontario — but the cease-and-desist still costs you a job offer.
IP assignment covers anything 'created during the term' that 'relates to the company's business or anticipated business'. No carve-out for personal-time, personal- equipment, unrelated-domain work.
We are running the first batch of employment-offer inspections at no cost while we calibrate the standard. You give us an email; we give you the report. An employment lawyer review still runs $500 to $2K and is worth every dollar — inspection makes that conversation 30× cheaper to start.
Delivered after analysis. Print and PDF-friendly.
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