Employment Contract - At-Will

AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

Alabama jurisdiction

This At-Will Employment Agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into as of [__/__/____] by and between:

• Employer: [EMPLOYER LEGAL NAME], a [ENTITY TYPE], with an address at [EMPLOYER ADDRESS] (“Employer”); and
• Employee: [EMPLOYEE LEGAL NAME], residing at [EMPLOYEE ADDRESS] (“Employee”).

Employer and Employee are each a “Party” and together the “Parties.”

1. Position and Employment Status

1.1 Position. Employer employs Employee as [JOB TITLE], reporting to [SUPERVISOR/TITLE], beginning [__/__/____].

1.2 Work Location and Schedule. The primary work location is [ADDRESS/REMOTE LOCATION]. The anticipated schedule is [DAYS/HOURS]. The established workweek begins on [DAY/TIME] and ends 168 hours later.

1.3 Duties. Employee will perform the duties in Exhibit A, comply with lawful instructions and written policies, and promptly disclose actual conflicts of interest.

1.4 At-Will Relationship. Employment is at will. Subject to applicable law, any collective bargaining agreement, and the payment obligations in this Agreement, either Party may end employment at any time, with or without advance notice or cause.

1.5 No Fixed Term or Oral Change. A start date, salary, review cycle, bonus opportunity, or anticipated schedule does not create a fixed term. Any fixed-term commitment must be in a separate writing signed by Employee and [AUTHORIZED EMPLOYER OFFICER].

1.6 Lawful Reasons Only. Nothing in this Agreement authorizes discrimination, retaliation, interference with protected leave or wage rights, or another termination prohibited by law.

2. Compensation and Payroll

2.1 Compensation Terms

2.2 Federal Minimum Wage and Overtime. Alabama has no general state minimum-wage or overtime statute. Covered nonexempt employees must receive at least the federal minimum wage—currently $7.25 per hour—and at least one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over forty in a workweek, subject to valid exemptions and any more-protective applicable law.

2.3 Salary Does Not Decide Exemption. Salary compensation does not by itself establish an exemption. Employer must document and periodically review all applicable salary-basis, salary-level, duties, coverage, and industry tests.

2.4 Hours and Records. Employee will accurately record all hours worked. Employer remains responsible for maintaining required records and paying for all work it suffers or permits.

2.5 Deductions. Employer may make deductions required by law or validly authorized by Employee. No deduction will reduce covered nonexempt wages below the federal minimum wage or required overtime or otherwise violate applicable law.

2.6 Prospective Changes. Employer may prospectively change compensation or schedule terms by written notice, subject to the FLSA salary-basis rules, contract rights, and other applicable law. No earned wage will be retroactively reduced.

2.7 Optional Compensation. Employee may be eligible for the following only under the identified controlling written plan:

• ☐ Discretionary bonus: [PLAN/TERMS]
• ☐ Commission: [ATTACH COMMISSION PLAN]
• ☐ Equity award: [ATTACH PLAN/GRANT]
• ☐ Other: [DESCRIPTION]

The plan must state when the payment is earned, vested, calculated, and payable after separation.

3. Benefits, Leave, and Expenses

3.1 Benefit Plans. Employee may participate in plans for which Employee is eligible, subject to the controlling plan documents. Employer may amend or discontinue a plan only as permitted by those documents and applicable law.

3.2 Vacation, Holiday, Sick, and Severance Pay. The FLSA does not itself require vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay. Any such benefit is governed by [POLICY/PLAN NAME AND DATE], together with any other applicable law. The policy must state accrual, use, carryover, and separation treatment.

3.3 Business Expenses. Employer will reimburse authorized business expenses under [EXPENSE POLICY]. No reimbursement arrangement may shift Employer’s operating costs in a manner that violates wage law.

3.4 Protected Rights. Nothing in this Agreement limits legally protected leave, accommodation, benefit, wage, safety, workers’ compensation, unemployment, organizing, reporting, or anti-retaliation rights.

4. Confidential Information and Work Product

4.1 Confidential Information. Employee will use Employer’s nonpublic business information only for authorized work and protect it from unauthorized disclosure. This duty excludes information lawfully known without restriction, independently developed, publicly available without breach, or lawfully disclosed to a government agency, attorney, or court.

4.2 Protected Activity. Nothing prohibits an activity protected by law, including protected concerted activity concerning wages or working conditions, a government report or investigation, or a legally protected disclosure.

4.3 Work Product. To the extent permitted by law, Employee assigns to Employer work product created within the scope of employment or using Employer resources. Preexisting works listed in Exhibit B and works created entirely outside the scope of employment without Employer resources or confidential information are excluded unless separately assigned.

4.4 No Embedded Restrictive Covenant. This Agreement does not impose a post-employment noncompetition or nonsolicitation covenant.

5. Separation

5.1 Notice. A Party ending employment should give written notice stating the effective date, although advance notice is not required for an at-will separation unless another binding agreement or law requires it.

5.2 Final Pay. Alabama does not impose a general state final-pay deadline. Employer contractually agrees to pay all earned wages no later than the next regular payday for the pay period in which they were earned, together with any commission, PTO, or other amount then payable under a controlling written plan.

5.3 No Conditional Wage Release. Earned wages will not be conditioned on signing a release or returning property. Any property claim or lawful deduction will be handled separately.

5.4 Return of Property. By [DATE/TIME], Employee will return Employer property and information, except records Employee is legally entitled to keep.

5.5 Continuing Terms. Section 4 and this Section 5 survive only to the extent their subject matter requires and the provision remains lawful.

6. General Terms

6.1 No Employee Indemnity or Employer Liability Cap. This Agreement does not require Employee to indemnify Employer for ordinary work conduct, cap Employer’s wage or employment-law liability, waive statutory remedies, or shift Employer’s legal compliance duties.

6.2 Policies and Plans. Written policies and plan documents supplement this Agreement but do not alter at-will status unless a signed writing expressly says otherwise. A controlling benefit-plan document governs plan administration to the extent permitted by law.

6.3 Governing Law and Forum. Alabama law governs. Subject to any separately executed and enforceable arbitration agreement, an action relating to this Agreement may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in [COUNTY], Alabama.

6.4 Arbitration and Waivers. No arbitration, jury waiver, class waiver, fee-shifting, or prevailing-party clause is created by this Agreement. Any such term must appear in a separate, counsel-reviewed agreement signed by both Parties.

6.5 Entire Agreement. This Agreement and its identified exhibits are the complete agreement on the subjects they address and supersede prior statements on those subjects without waiving nonwaivable rights.

6.6 Amendment. An amendment must be in writing and signed by both Parties, except a lawful prospective compensation or policy change may be made through the notice or plan procedure identified above.

6.7 Severability. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be severed or narrowed only to the extent a court permits, without expanding a restraint on Employee.

6.8 Electronic Signatures. Counterparts and electronic signatures may be used to the extent permitted by law.

7. Acknowledgments and Signatures

By signing, each Party acknowledges that the compensation and payroll terms in Section 2 are complete and that Employee received:

• ☐ Job description (Exhibit A)
• ☐ Preexisting works list (Exhibit B)
• ☐ Benefit and leave policies
• ☐ Commission, bonus, or equity plan identified above
• ☐ Employee handbook
• ☐ Other required notices: [LIST]

Sources and References

• Alabama Department of Workforce, Wage and Hour Information: https://labor.alabama.gov/Wage_and_Hour_Info.pdf
• Alabama Department of Workforce, Job Termination Laws: https://www2.labor.alabama.gov/Information/job_termination_laws.aspx
• U.S. Department of Labor, Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa
• U.S. Department of Labor, Handy Reference Guide to the FLSA: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/compliance-assistance/handy-reference-guide-flsa
• Ala. Code § 8-1-190 (2025 mirror text): https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-8/chapter-1/article-10/section-8-1-190/
• Ala. Code § 8-1-191 (2025 mirror text): https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-8/chapter-1/article-10/section-8-1-191/
• Ala. Code § 8-1-192 (2025 mirror text): https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-8/chapter-1/article-10/section-8-1-192/
• Ala. Code § 8-1-193 (2025 mirror text): https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/title-8/chapter-1/article-10/section-8-1-193/
• National Labor Relations Board, Employee Rights: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/employee-rights