At Will contract, but also requires 8 weeks notice

I have an offer letter for a role in California. It states that the role is at-will, and that myself or employer can terminiate employment any time, with or without prior notice. But then it also says that I need to give 8 weeks notice if I want to terminate my employment. This seems directly contradictory to the At-Will portion. What would happen if I gave less than the 8 weeks? That seems like an unreasonable amount of time...but it also seems like it directly contradicts listing that my employment is at will so not sure there would be much ability for them to enforce that since both contradictory items are in the same contract?

1 answer  |  asked Mar 26, 2017 6:42 PM [EST]  |  applies to California

Answers (1)

Arkady Itkin
This inconsistency is usually due to poor drafting. Theoretically, the employer can file a claim against an employee who doesn't honor the notice requirements but they would have to show how they were harmed by it, which is usually difficult. Therefore, in practice this is very unlikely to be an issue.
The best thing to do however is to nicely bring it this inconsistency to your employer's attention and clarify it so as to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

Thanks,

Arkady Itkin

posted by Arkady Itkin  |  Mar 26, 2017 7:27 PM [EST]

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