Ensuring eSignature Legitimateness for Arbitration Agreement in United States

How to eSign a document: eSignature legitimateness for Arbitration Agreement in United States

nine can I insist that new hirers sign mandatory arbitration agreements yes but there's a caveat although recent decisions from federal including the US Supreme Court and state courts hav encourage employment arbitration agreements the issue of whether such Agreements are enforcable has not been fully and finally settled in all jurisdictions for example at least one federal court of appeals has ruled that employers may not force employees to arbitrate discrimination claims under federal law for example claims for unlawful race sex disability or age discrimination in contrast many state courts including the California Supreme Court have ruled that agreements to arbitrate employment claims including discrimination claims under state law are enforcable provided they guarantee certain fairness and due process standards Ard s to be fair and to meet due process guidelines arbitration agreements must not be unconscionable or be otherwise procedurally biased against the employee in the eyes of the Court what are the advantages to a company of compelling arbitration rather than allowing for a trial court to hear a case save time and money lots of it it's generally true that arbitration is Advantage ASO employers because often reduces costs of litigation imposes some reasonable limitations on Discovery and grants plain of smaller Awards than a court or jury verdict in addition arbitration generally reaches resolution much faster than traditional litigation there are also advantages for employees generally speaking arbitration is inexpensive efficient and allows workers to be heard on a timelier basis that is closer answer to the triggering event this sometimes increases the chances of a successful resolution because the employee doesn't stew over the problem for months or years before getting to trial on the other hand certain companies feel less inclined from a moral standpoint to mandate that employees give up their access to the court system other employers feel that all the at will and mandatory arbitration paperwork in the new hire process alienates new s from day one as a result determining whether mandatory pre-employment arbitration clauses belong in your Employment Practices and policies is a matter of opinion corporate culture geography and the laws of your jurisdiction after all certain states are simply more employer friendly than others tell me more confer with outside Council regarding both the decision to use arbitration agreement ments and for the drafting of those agreements if your company chooses to implement a practice of mandating arbitration of workplace disputes follow these guidelines one choose the American Arbitration Association AAA or some other respected arbitration firm as your arbitrator two do not restrict the damages the arbitrator can award remedies available in arbitrate should be identical to those allowed at law three your company should pay all arbitration fees however you may create a policy that requires employees to pay reasonable filing fees and other administrative costs as a side note if you decide to adopt an arbitration policy for your current employees as opposed to your newly hired ones remember that you will need to give them some new consideration in exch exchange for their signature cash consideration is the norm the appropriate amount should be discussed with qualified Council before implementation finally mandatory arbitration language is normally found in offer letters imployment applications and employee handbooks in order to increase the enforceability of the agreement it should also be presented as a freestanding written agreement between the company and the employee see appendix Fe for examples of mandatory arbitration language the samples are intended as blueprints only and just represent an effort to save you time please ensure that qualified Council customizes such language to your company's particular needs