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Employment Contract
Read your employment contract like it matters. Because it does.
Your employment contract sets the terms for your salary, benefits, what you can do outside work, and what happens if things go wrong. Attorly reads it carefully so you understand what you're agreeing to before day one.
Review my contractNot legal advice: This page explains, in plain language, how a legal document typically works. It is general information — not legal advice about your specific situation. If the stakes are meaningful, or a deadline is close, speak with a licensed lawyer before relying on anything you read here.
The contract controls the job
The offer letter sets expectations. The employment contract sets obligations. Once signed, the contract — not the recruiter's verbal promises, not the glossy offer packet — governs how you can leave, what you can do afterward, and what happens if the relationship ends badly.
The clauses that matter rarely appear in the offer discussion: intellectual-property assignment, restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicit, non-disclosure), equity vesting mechanics, change-of-control treatment, and termination rights. These determine what you walk away with years from now.
Attorly reads employment agreements and option grants together, comparing the package to market standard and flagging clauses that are unusually restrictive for the role, seniority, and jurisdiction.
How it works
Get clarity on any legal document in three steps
Step 1
Upload your document
Drag in a PDF, Word file, or image scan. Any format, any language.
Step 2
Attorly analyzes it
Multiple AI models review your document independently — flagging risks, extracting deadlines, and identifying obligations and key terms. Independent review means nothing gets missed.
Step 3
Know exactly what to do
More than a summary — Attorly gives you a clear action plan: what matters, what to do about it, and in what order. Handle it yourself or bring a lawyer in fully prepared.
What Attorly finds in an employment contract
The terms that affect your career long after you start.
Non-compete restrictions
Whether you're barred from working for competitors after you leave — how long, in what industry, and in what geography.
Intellectual property assignment
Whether anything you create — even in your personal time — becomes company property. This clause is often broader than people realize.
Termination and notice terms
How much notice either party must give, what counts as cause for immediate dismissal, and whether you're entitled to severance.
Compensation and bonus structure
Whether bonuses are guaranteed or discretionary, how equity vests, and any clawback provisions you should know about.
Confidentiality obligations
What information you're required to keep confidential, for how long after you leave, and what the consequences of a breach might be.
Change-of-control and acceleration
Attorly flags whether your equity accelerates on acquisition or termination-following-acquisition (double-trigger), and what percentage vests.
Moonlighting and outside-activity limits
Restrictions on side projects, board seats, investing, and advisory work. Some contracts require written approval for anything outside the job — including things you were doing before.
Before you sign the offer
You have the most leverage before day one. Use it.
- 1
Upload to Attorly — know where you stand
Before you react, respond, or call anyone — start here. Upload the document and multiple AI models review it independently: claims, deadlines, risks, obligations, and your realistic options. In minutes you have a clear action plan. Most people find they can handle more than they expected — and if you do need a lawyer, you'll walk in fully prepared.
- 2
Confirm the total compensation package in writing
Base, bonus (target and historical hit rate), equity grant, vesting schedule, cliff, sign-on bonus and its clawback. A verbal "we typically pay the full bonus" is not the contract.
- 3
Read the restrictive covenants carefully
Non-compete, non-solicit, non-disparagement, and confidentiality. Scope, duration, and geography matter. Some states (parts of NY) limit enforceability, but until you're sued, a restrictive covenant still chills your career.
- 4
Check IP and invention assignment
Most contracts claim everything you create, sometimes including side projects. Carve out pre-existing work and personal projects in writing — once signed, it's very hard to untangle.
- 5
Read the termination section
At-will (where applicable) vs. for-cause, severance triggers, notice requirements, and what happens to unvested equity on termination. "Good leaver" vs. "bad leaver" language can erase a year of equity overnight.
- 6
Understand the dispute-resolution clause
Arbitration, class-action waivers, fee-shifting, and governing law. These clauses change the cost and forum of any future dispute — and many employees sign them without realizing what they're waiving.
Common questions about employment contracts
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Upload your employment contract and get a clear breakdown in under 60 seconds.
Review my employment contract