Beware of unfair employment agreement

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One of my earlier jobs was in local IT firm, working as a junior developer. At that time, I was pretty young and inexperienced. I signed the employment agreement without noticing that it is actually one-sided and unfair to the employee (me).

The notice period they have to give me if they were to terminate me during probation period is 2 weeks. On the other hand, if I were to leave, I would need to give them 1 month of notice period. This is unfair. I’ve also heard of worse agreements where the employer only needs to give the employee 24 hours notice period, but the employee needs to give the employer 2 weeks - 1 month of notice period.

Remember that employment agreement, if possible, should be fair to both employee and employer. Because it is the black and white document which will safeguard the interests of both parties.

The problem here is, most local companies are just too shrewd and cunning. They will always find opportunities to make the agreement one-sided. If they don’t want you anymore, they can kick you out very fast. But if you don’t want them, you can’t do the same. Funnily, there will always be people who agree to such unfair treatment.

That’s why I always told my friends to check the agreement properly before signing it. If it is unfair to you, then you will have to make the call.

Is the job (benefits/salary/prospect) really that good, that you are willing to ignore the one-sided agreement? Is it worth to take the risk?

If it is, good, make your decision and don’t regret if something bad happens. If no, then go out and find another job offer. Just be prepared because this kind of thing is quite common in Malaysia.

Good luck.

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