Arbitration agreements are a way that employers try to avoid being sued by employees for employment law violations, such as wage and hour violations or sexual harassment.
An arbitration agreement may be in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or in the form of a separate agreement. (b) The arbitration agreement shall be in writing.
Arbitration agreements require that persons who signed them resolve any disputes by binding arbitration, rather than in court before a judge and/or jury. What is binding arbitration? Binding arbitration involves the submission of a dispute to a neutral party who hears the case and makes a decision.
To reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of dispute resolution, businesses often require that their customers and employees to sign an arbitration agreement.
The Risks of Refusing to Sign Usually, an employer can rescind an employment offer if a prospective employee refuses to sign the arbitration agreement. And an employer can fire an at-will employee who refuses to sign one. Therefore, declining to sign the agreement could jeopardize your job.
(1) A court of this state having jurisdiction over the controversy and the parties may enforce an agreement to arbitrate.
Arbitration might be the right choice for some cases. Limited discovery rights and costs might be useful when less is at stake. Arbitration might feel less adversarial, which could be an advantage where ongoing relationships are hoped to be preserved. Arbitration lends some confidentiality.
Opting out of arbitration agreements allows you to retain the right to take legal disputes to court, rather than being forced into private arbitration. Arbitration often limits rights such as participating in class-action lawsuits, appealing decisions, and having a public trial with a judge or jury.
Should you sign an arbitration agreement? If you agree to engage in a possible future arbitration voluntarily, mutually determine the ground rules of arbitration and agree to choose an impartial arbitrator together, you are likely to find arbitration to be not only inexpensive and fast but also fair.