Employment Contracts
Your employer's lawyers wrote this contract. Now you have a lawyer too.
Non-compete clauses, IP ownership, notice periods, and termination terms — ClearTerms finds everything that could limit your options.
Analyse My Employment Contract →What employment contracts often contain
Employment contracts are drafted to protect the employer. The clauses that most affect your future options are rarely highlighted — they're buried in the standard terms.
Non-Compete Restrictions
Broad non-compete clauses can prevent you from working in your industry for months or years after leaving. We surface the geographic scope, duration, and what activities are restricted — and flag anything that exceeds what Irish courts typically enforce.
IP Ownership Clauses
Many contracts assign all intellectual property you create during employment — including work done outside office hours — to the employer. If you run a side project, write code, or create anything while employed, this clause may mean the company owns it.
Notice Period Obligations
Your notice period determines how quickly you can leave — and what happens if you don't give it. We surface the exact notice requirement, garden leave provisions, and any pay-in-lieu clauses that affect your ability to start a new role.
Termination and Dismissal Terms
What can your employer terminate you for? We identify summary dismissal triggers, performance improvement procedures, and any conditions that could affect your redundancy entitlements or unfair dismissal protections.
Bonus and Commission Terms
Discretionary bonus clauses give the employer full control over payment — even after you've earned it. We flag the difference between contractual and discretionary entitlements, and identify any clawback provisions.
Non-Solicitation Clauses
Separate from non-compete restrictions, non-solicitation clauses prevent you from contacting clients or colleagues after leaving. We identify their scope, duration, and whether they apply to clients you brought to the company yourself.
Common questions about employment contract analysis
Are non-compete clauses enforceable in Ireland?
Irish courts apply a reasonableness test. Non-competes that are excessively broad in scope, duration, or geography are frequently unenforceable. However, this requires a legal challenge — ClearTerms helps you identify clauses that may be problematic before you need to test them.
Can my employer own work I do outside of office hours?
Possibly, if your contract contains a broad IP assignment clause. These clauses often extend to "any work created using company resources or related to company business" — which can cover work done at home on a personal laptop. ClearTerms surfaces the exact IP clause wording.
What if I want to negotiate certain clauses?
ClearTerms identifies which clauses are most worth negotiating — and which are standard. Armed with specific clause text and plain-English explanations, you're in a much stronger position in any negotiation.
Does this apply to contractor agreements too?
Yes. ClearTerms analyses employment contracts, contractor agreements, and consultancy agreements — and the IP and restrictive covenant issues apply equally to all three.
Know what you're signing before you sign it
Upload your employment contract and get a full analysis of what could limit your options.
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