The relationship of an employer and an employee exists when, pursuant to an agreement of the parties, one person, the employee, agrees to work under the direction and control of another, the employer, for compensation. The agreement of the parties is a contract, and it is therefore subject to all the principles applicable to contracts. The contract may be implied. Most employment contracts are implied oral agreements. In this type of arrangement, the employer is accepting the services of the employee that a reasonable person would recognize as being such that compensation would be given to the employee.
The contract will often be an express written contract. In other words, the duties of the employee will be specifically set forth in writing in the contract. The attached form is a sample agreement between a nonprofit corporation and an executive director.
