Q: Is my employer obligated to provide me a copy of my signed/executed employment agreement?
My employer and I conducted contract negotiations remotely using electronic copies. When I received the hard copies, I made some final minor 'strike-through and replace text' modifications to them, intitialed the changes, signed the documents, and returned the hard copies by mail. I never received copies of these final signed/executed documents and am now involved in a contract dispute with my employer. I would like to be able to reference the actual documents before engaging in informal dispute resolution with my employer. Are they obligated to provide me with access to them?
A: You are a party to the agreement. I suppose your could file some legal action to obtain a copy, and refusal may be itself a breach of the agreement. However, if you are no longer there, they may be reluctant and have agenda as to why they will not release is, and I've seen this in many cases. Hopefully you have a copy of what you executed, and as long as you performed according to those terms, the agreement may still be enforceable. Either case, I suggest you hire and retain counsel to review what you have and provide you LEGAL ADVICE. If you are about to go into ADR with the former employer, then it would be in your best interest to have counsel. MLF
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