California Arbitration Agreement

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Employment arbitration agreements have been successfully used for decades to resolve workplace disputes. This agreement requires an employee to decide employment-related problems by arbitration using an independent arbitrator rather than filing a lawsuit against their employer in court.

A California arbitration agreement has advantages:

• The arbitration process can begin quickly
• Costs are low compared with the cost of defending a lawsuit
• Fast resolution to employment disputes (as short as a few days)

A California arbitration clause can be part of an employment contract, an employee handbook, or a separate agreement.

The advantage of having the arbitration agreement as a separate document is that it is looked on more favorably by the courts as opposed to an arbitration clause that is part of an employee handbook.

Recent court decisions have shown that many times an arbitration clause buried in an employee handbook is not sufficient enough documentation for the court and therefore not enforceable. When this happens, the employer must defend himself in court rather than going to arbitration.

This agreement is flexible enough to cover a wide or narrow range of workplace and employment disagreements.