Understanding Employment Contracts: Formation and Key Elements

Concept and Nature of the Employment Contract

A contract is an agreement of wills between two or more parties that creates, modifies, or regulates obligations between them.

Autonomy of will allows parties in a contract to freely negotiate conditions.

A. The Concept of Employment Contract

An employment contract is an agreement of wills between a company and an employee. The employee undertakes to provide their services to the company in exchange for payment and acts under the company's direction. Any result obtained from the employee's activity belongs to the company.

B. Simulated Labor Contract Installation

C. Nature of Employment

Features:

• Consensual: The contract is perfected at the moment consent is given.
• Bilateral: Creates obligations for both parties.
• Unilateral: One party has obligations (e.g., board membership voting).
• Onerous: Obligations are of a patrimonial nature.
• Successive Performance: Obligations are fulfilled over time.
• Regulated: The parties' will is subject to minimums established by labor laws and conventions.

Essential Elements of the Employment Contract

Consent: The agreement of the parties must be validly expressed and cannot be produced by violence, intimidation, or mistake regarding the person or content.

Object: The subject matter or matters that the contract concerns.

Cause: The immediate purpose for which the contract is performed (e.g., in buying and selling, the cause is the transmission of property).

The Birth of the Employment Contract

The labor agreement is consensual, meaning it comes into existence when the parties express their consent. Parties must have the legal capacity to enter into valid acts before the law.

If these requirements are not met, it may lead to a case of contract cancellation. In less serious cases, its validity may be contested by interested parties, resulting in a voidable contract that must be declared by a judge.

a) The Probationary Period

This is a period where part of the contract. The employer tests and confirms employee expectations, and the worker assesses the working conditions.

Form: Mandatory writing.

Duration: The duration is agreed upon by the contracting parties, not exceeding what is fixed by the collective agreement.