SecondLayerIntelligence beneath the surface.

Every document your employer gives you has been written by someone working against your interests.

Your contract. Your performance review. Your handbook. Your pay letter. Your equity agreement. Each one shapes your working life. None of them were written for you.

Employers have legal teams, HR professionals, and years of precedent on their side. You have the document they hand you and the time pressure to sign it. SecondLayer levels that. We analyse every employment document type — surfacing what's hidden, what's risky, and what you should push back on before it's too late.

📄Employment

Your contract was written to protect them. Not you.

Non-competes that follow you for years. IP clauses that claim your side projects. Bonus conditions designed to never pay out. The clauses that define your future are buried — and you're expected to sign within 48 hours.

  • Non-compete scope, duration, and whether it would survive a legal challenge in Ireland
  • IP ownership — including work done at home, on your own time
  • Bonus and commission: discretionary vs contractual, and clawback exposure
Analyse my contract →What we analyse in detail →
📊Performance Review

They've been building a file. Do you know what's in it?

Performance reviews aren't feedback. They're legal documentation. Every carefully worded phrase, every rating gap, every 'area for development' — it's being written for a purpose. SecondLayer decodes what your manager is actually saying beneath the corporate language.

  • The real message beneath formal HR language — decoded in plain English
  • Whether your employment trajectory is stable, monitored, at risk, or critical
  • Language patterns that signal a PIP or managed exit is being prepared
Analyse my performance review →What we analyse in detail →
📋Company Policy

You signed the handbook. Did you read what you agreed to?

Your employee handbook isn't just HR housekeeping. It defines what your employer can monitor, what they can discipline you for, and what rights you actually have — versus what they've told you verbally. Most employees never read it until they need it. By then it's too late.

  • What your employer can legally monitor — devices, email, location, internet usage
  • Your actual rights in a disciplinary process vs what HR tells you informally
  • Leave entitlements, whistleblowing protections, and what's missing that should be there
Analyse my company policy →What we analyse in detail →
💰Pay & Remuneration

Your pay rise came with conditions they didn't mention.

Salary review letters look like good news. They often contain clawback clauses, new restrictive covenants, and conditions that tie you to the company longer than you realise. The raise is real. So are the strings attached to it.

  • Clawback provisions — must you repay the increase if you leave within 6 or 12 months?
  • New post-termination restrictions quietly introduced alongside the pay revision
  • Whether your bonus is contractual or still fully at their discretion
Analyse my pay letter →What we analyse in detail →
📈Equity & Share Options

Your equity could be worth nothing if you leave at the wrong moment.

Share options and RSUs are sold as life-changing compensation. The vesting schedules, bad leaver clauses, and exercise windows tell a different story. Most employees discover what their equity is actually worth only when they try to leave — or when the company is acquired.

  • Good leaver vs bad leaver — exactly what you forfeit if you resign, are made redundant, or are dismissed
  • Exercise window after leaving — how long you have and what happens if you miss it
  • What happens to unvested shares on acquisition or IPO — and whether you benefit or get wiped out
Analyse my equity agreement →What we analyse in detail →

SecondLayer analyses document content to help you understand what your documents say. This is not legal advice. Always consult a qualified solicitor before making decisions.