Is my offer letter contract void?
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Is my offer letter contract void?
I am a physical therapist assistant. I would like to resign from my current job. My offer letter states that I will be treating 3 patients per hour with the help of 2 clinical assistants. My schedule currently fallows this policy. However, this has not remained consistent. For the majority of my duration of employment I have only had 1 clinical assistant to help me and I was seeing 2-3 patients per hour.
My offer letter states that I would have an early resignation fee of 10,000. I am thinking that the contract may be void due to not fallowing the previsions of clinical assistance and patient per hour throughout my employment term at this employer. Am I correct?
Please give me as much advice as you can.
Asked on May 8, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
First, does the contract specify a duration (e.g. a one-year contract, a two-year contract, etc.)? If it doesn't specify a duration, or alternately some notice period for resignation (e.g. "may resign on 60 days notices"), then you most likely can quit or resign at any time, without notice--the law does not allow "perpetual" employment contracts--ones with without a duration and/or a way to cancel them. A perpetual contract that claims to hold you to the job forever would actually be one without any duration, so you should be able to leave whenever you want to.
If it does have a duration and you want to leave ahead of time, the issues you state may not be sufficiently "material, or important/critical, as to allow you to treat the contract as terminated by the employer's breach. They might be--just that they are not clearly so material that you could confidently leave without worrying about the resignation fee. They are on the cusp: if you leave and the employer sues you for the money, some judges might find for you, others against you.
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