One year employment contract. Can I break it?

[normandy]

OH.
Hello. I have a one year contract, rather succinct, to say the least. I am wondering if I can resign my position with minimum risk.Here is the full contract:

(Company) is hiring (me) as its full time employee in the position of manager.Employment period will be effective july1 2015 until june 30 2016 with a salary of X$. After this year if both parties decide to extend the employment period the compensation will be negociated.
The employee shall perform and discharge well and faithfully such duties for the company as are consistent with these normally incident to the employee's position.

Date and signature.


Thank you for your advice.

 

[Zigner]

Based on only what you've given, I don't see any penalty to you quitting. Frankly, it doesn't sound like an enforceable "contract" to me. You will want to run it by a local employment law attorney.

 

[normandy]

Based on only what you've given, I don't see any penalty to you quitting. Frankly, it doesn't sound like an enforceable "contract" to me. You will want to run it by a local employment law attorney.

Thank you for your reply. They promised me a contract....but their attorney keeps taking vacations. I may add that this is an Asian company and I am their only employee in the US. They do pay me on time, I have to admit. I found a position in a more structured comapny.

 

[FlyingRon]

I'll go one further than Zigner. It doesn't sound like a contract at all, just an offer of employment. Even actual employment contracts are very hard to force employees to stay if they don't want to.

 

[Zigner]

I'll go one further than Zigner. It doesn't sound like a contract at all, just an offer of employment. Even actual employment contracts are very hard to force employees to stay if they don't want to.

To be fair, a contract that is not enforceable = not a contract at all

 

[latigo]

What you've quoted lacks the needed mutuality of obligation. Hence it binds no one. Like Ron has written at best it could only be viewed as an unaccepted offer of employment.

What puzzles me is why would you think differently as if you could be bound to a contract of employment that doesn't bear your signature?
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Incidentally, any such employment contract describing the employee's duties only "as are consistent with those normally incident to the employee's position" would be unenforceable because of uncertainty. Besides the contract principle of "mutuality of obligation" there is one that can be expressed as "certainty of obligation" or lack of it.