Free Employment Contract Review: Check Your Job Offer Before You Sign

Why Review Your Employment Contract Before Signing?

You just got a job offer. The salary looks good, the title is what you wanted, and you're ready to sign. But the employment contract sitting in your inbox — the one with 15 pages of legal text you'll probably skim — that document will define your rights, obligations, and restrictions for years. Sign it without reading, and you might be signing away your right to work for a competitor, your ownership of side projects, or your ability to join a class action lawsuit.

A free employment contract review gives you the same clause-by-clause analysis a lawyer would provide — without the $400/hour bill and the 3-day wait. Our AI scans your job offer or employment agreement for non-compete overreach, aggressive IP assignment clauses, one-sided termination provisions, and 15+ other common red flags. You get your results in under 30 seconds.

The cost of not reviewing? Real. We've seen employment contracts with 3-year global non-competes for entry-level marketing roles. Contracts that claim ownership of everything an employee creates — on weekends, on personal equipment, unrelated to the job. Contracts where the employer can change your compensation, role, and location 'at their sole discretion' without your consent. These aren't hypotheticals. They're in contracts people signed because they didn't check.

What Our Free Employment Contract Checker Catches

Our AI employment contract analyzer checks your job offer against 15+ risk categories. Each issue gets a severity rating (low/medium/high) and a suggested fix you can take to HR or your future employer.

• Non-compete clauses — geographic scope, duration, and industry breadth. A global 3-year non-compete for a junior role is a massive red flag. Our AI flags overreach.
• Intellectual property assignment — does the company claim everything you create, including personal side projects on your own time? Look for carve-outs and protections.
• Confidentiality obligations — are you prohibited from discussing salary, workplace conditions, or even the contract itself? Some confidentiality clauses go far beyond trade secrets.
• Compensation and bonus structure — is your bonus 'discretionary' (meaning: zero guaranteed)? Are commission terms clear about when commissions are earned and payable?
• Termination provisions — does the employer need cause to fire you, or is it pure at-will? If you resign, do you owe 60 days notice while they can fire you immediately?
• Mandatory arbitration and class action waivers — are you giving up the right to sue in court or participate in class actions? Some clauses are enforceable, some aren't — but you should know they're there.
• Non-solicitation of employees — after you leave, are you banned from recruiting former colleagues? For how long? Does it apply to people who reach out to you first?
• Moonlighting restrictions — can you freelance, consult, or run a side business while employed? Some contracts ban all outside work without prior written approval.
• Relocation and role change clauses — can the company move you across the country or change your job description without your consent?
• Severance terms — if you're terminated without cause, what do you get? Is there a notice period, a payout, or nothing?

How to Use Our Free Employment Contract Review Tool

No sign-up. No credit card. Three steps from upload to report:

• Upload your employment contract — drag and drop a PDF, DOCX, or paste the text. Works with offer letters, full employment agreements, executive contracts, and contractor agreements.
• AI scans every clause — our model analyzes compensation terms, restrictive covenants, IP assignment, termination provisions, dispute resolution, and more. Takes under 30 seconds for contracts up to 25 pages.
• Get your risk report — an overall risk score (0–100), clause-by-clause findings with severity ratings, plain-English explanations, and suggested negotiation language. Share via secure link or download the track-changes DOCX.

Free AI Review vs. Employment Lawyer

AI employment contract review doesn't replace an employment lawyer for every situation. Here's when to use which:

• Use free AI review when: you're reviewing a standard job offer, the role is below executive/C-suite level, the total comp is under $200K, or you want a fast first pass before deciding whether to involve a lawyer.
• Hire an employment lawyer when: you're negotiating an executive/C-suite package with equity, the role involves complex commission or carried interest structures, you suspect the contract is deliberately predatory, or you're signing a separation/severance agreement with a release of claims.
• Cost comparison: our free AI checker gives you 3 free reviews. An employment lawyer charges $300–800 for a single contract review and typically takes 2–5 business days.
• Speed: AI review returns results in 30 seconds. Lawyer review takes days. If you have a tight deadline, run the AI review first, then decide if the flagged issues warrant a lawyer.

Key Employment Contract Clauses to Check

Beyond the red flags, here are the standard clauses every employment contract should have — and what to look for in each:

• Job title and description — should be specific enough that the employer can't reassign you to an entirely different role. 'Marketing Manager' is better than 'duties as assigned.'
• Start date and probation period — standard probation is 3–6 months. Check whether benefits, bonus eligibility, and notice periods apply during probation.
• Compensation — base salary should be a fixed number, not a range. Bonus should reference objective criteria or at least a target percentage. Equity should specify number of shares/options, vesting schedule (standard: 4 years with 1-year cliff), and exercise window.
• Benefits — health insurance, retirement, PTO, sick leave, parental leave. Make sure the contract references the actual benefit documents, not vague promises.
• Termination — at-will employment should be stated clearly. Notice periods should be symmetrical (if you give 4 weeks, they give 4 weeks or pay in lieu). Check for 'termination for cause' definitions — they should list specific grounds, not a vague 'any breach.'
• Dispute resolution — if there's an arbitration clause, check: who pays the arbitrator's fees? Is it binding? Does it waive class/collective action rights? Can you still file with the EEOC or state labor board?
• Governing law — should be the state where you'll actually work. An employment contract governed by Delaware law when you work in California is a red flag — it often signals an attempt to avoid employee-friendly state laws.

What to Do After Your Employment Contract Review

Your AI review report will flag specific clauses with risk levels and suggested fixes. Here's what to do next:

• Low risk (score 80+): The contract is fair and standard for your industry and role. Sign with confidence.
• Medium risk (score 60–79): Specific clauses need negotiation. Use the AI-suggested language to propose changes. Frame requests as 'making the contract fair for both sides' — not accusations. Most employers expect some back-and-forth.
• High risk (score below 60): Multiple serious issues. Prioritize the top 3 — don't negotiate everything at once. Start with non-compete scope, IP assignment, and termination terms. If the employer won't budge on critical items, consider whether this is the right offer.
• For high-stakes roles: take the AI report to an employment lawyer. You'll save money because the lawyer starts from the flagged issues instead of reading the contract cold.

Your employment contract defines the rules of your working life. Checking it before you sign is not paranoia — it's the same due diligence you'd do before signing any other binding agreement. And with a free AI employment contract review, it takes 30 seconds. Upload your job offer now and see what the AI finds.