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io o oo se e en en oeme es t t‘ Employment contracts restrict employee rights. Although they can deal with contentious issues at the start of an employment relationship, they will also set out the period of notgce tgat an employee is entitled to â€" and it‘s normally on the light side. Without a contract, a terminated employee is entitled to receive "reasonable notice," which depends upon a person‘s age, length of service and type of job. _ _ 1t The older a person is and the longer they‘ve worked at a company, the more they‘re entitled to. e So if you‘re asked to sign an employment contract, get some legal advice: most employment lawyers will try to persuade you not to do it. And if you‘re an employer, get as many of your people signed up as possible. You won‘t regret it. Shows you, doesn‘t it, how dogâ€"eatâ€"dog it is out there. Those rights are given by the "common law" which is so flexible that it shifts in the employee‘s favor from year to year. Enter the employment contract. It takes away that reflexibiliâ€" ty, removes the concept of "reasonable notice" and substitutes a period of notice which is usually far shorter than that given by the common law. And the period of notice in a "good" agreement never changes. So an older employee who agrees to a threeâ€"month rrmination clause has probably given up a far greater award than he could have received under the common law. I‘ve been getting a lot of response to the piece I did a few weeks ago on the hazards of wrongful dismissal. It confirms in my mind the number of people out there who are being axed by their employers because there isn‘t enough work available. The question that comes up the most deals with employment contracts â€" and how widely they are generally misunderstood. ""If I had just signed an agreement," says one reader, "I would never have been fired." "I would have been protected by that agreement," he goes on to say. "Next time around, I‘ll get one." How wrong he is! * Although written contracts are becoming increasingly popuâ€" lar for executives, they‘re usually put together in such a way that they normally favor employers. Whenever I advise employers on wrongful dismissal law, I tell them to protect themselves by getting their people to sign a contract. The reverse is also true: I usually always tell employees to fozget ‘these contracts because they rarely work in their favor. He had signed an employment contract six years earlier, which stated quite clearly that he would receive three months‘ notice if he were terminated. J. Frederick Sagel is a Kitchener lawyer who lives in Waterloo. Example in point: a 58â€"yearâ€"old executive who worked for a Kitchener corporation recently came to see me. | He was recently fired. And he wanted to know how much notice he‘d be given. "Look at your contract," I said. ‘"You agreed to three months." "But I didn‘t even see that when I signed it," he maintained. "I was just anxwu%)/gét the job at the time. You mean I‘m stuck with that at age?" ‘"Most likely," I replied. "You signed it." That‘s my point. He did sign it. Without an employment contract, that same man could have collected up to 18 months â€" and perhaps even more â€"â€" in salary and benefits under the common law. Contracts offer no protection for employees The store, located on Davenport Road in Waterloo, is still filled with realistic handmade silk plants. But now. on a balcony overlooking the store, there‘s a special section to the store reserved forca very special occasion Rory Butson, owner of the store, has converted what used to be retail space into a romantic garden setting, complete with a Victorian gazebo decorated with white cherry blossoms, rose trellises, wrought iron benches, bushes. flowers of every variety and a bubbling brook meandering through a forest. It‘s beautiful and romantic and a perfect place to take wedding photos. And, just about every Saturday, brides and grooms come to Just Plants to pose for their wedding photos in a "natural". climateâ€"controlled garden. ‘"Many photographers don‘t have studio space,‘ says Butson, "and if they do, it‘s just a curtain. This is a natural setting, with natural lightini but without some of the problems that can occur The name of the store may be Just Plants. but Just Plants isn‘t just plants anymore. Not Just Plants anymore Indoor studio provides a natural alternative for wedding photography Keren Adderley Chronicle Staff AOEOZ A2CCPOT OW RNOT photographic studio. \~â€"THE HONDA CIVIC .:. SEDAN ~â€"Hottest deal in town on this But Butson says it‘s not just the winter months that are busy for an indoor studio And for those who get marmed in the winter or spring, Butson‘s studio provides a sunny location even in the worst weather ‘"Most photographers don‘t have studio=. and if they do. there can be problems with the colored screens clashing with the dresses ~ "At some of the outdoor locationâ€" p wedding photos, there can be all Rin problems. There is often more than . group waiting, so they have to line : weather can be bad. There‘s all kind that‘can happen In this setting. the only thin gazebo and benches. A forest m brook. creates the illusion of ou even more realistic by strategi treus. bushes and flowers from I the natural lighting and large windows of the store sruarante lighting in a real natural setting hy strategicalily owers from But= outdoor (Continued on page A16) muUraA nds Keren Adderiey photo nt Aedd t« nQs es