Employment Agreements are almost universally required in the healthcare field because of the inclusion of some form of restrictive covenant (commonly referred to as a non-compete). There are many misconceptions regarding the enforceability of a non-compete agreement and the laws in this area are very State specific. For a professional who may have attended school in another State and receives an offer to practice in Florida, the laws of the State where you attended school or where you were formerly a resident may be vastly different from the laws of the State of Florida. Be wary of advice from a non-Florida lawyer or other professional who does not practice in Florida.

Our firm has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating Employment Agreements for not only physicians and dentists, but nurse practitioners and other mid-level providers. We have represented both the employer and employee thereby giving us the perspective of both sides. In addition to the non-compete clause, typical issues that arise in the context of the Employment Agreement of a health care provider include a compensation and bonus formulas, hospital guaranties, moving allowance, “call” coverage, post-employment professional liability insurance or “tail coverage”, partnership criteria and termination provisions.

Be wary of a potential employer who says that all employees are required to sign the “standard” Employment Agreement. Typically, this is just the starting point and you and your attorney will be able to negotiate various provisions of the Employment Agreement to your advantage. The best time to have such conversations is at the beginning of the relationship when everyone is in the “honeymoon” phase. If you blindly agree to the standard agreement, your ability to negotiate changes later are drastically reduced.

Please contact our firm for any questions or assistance you may require in respect to an Employment Agreement.