Life in the fast lane: Employment law essentials for senior executives

• 13 August 2026
• News
• Employment

Senior executives face important opportunities, decisions and risks at every stage of their careers. The terms agreed when joining an organisation, the way relationships and responsibilities evolve during employment, and the arrangements that apply on departure can all have a significant impact on career progression, financial reward and future opportunities.

Drawing on our significant experience advising both senior employees and employers on contentious and non-contentious employment matters, this series provides a practical guide to the employment life cycle. We’ll explain the key employment law principles and how they apply to common scenarios. Our aim is to help senior executives identify risks early, maximise the value of their employment arrangements and make informed decisions at each stage of their professional journey.

In this first article, we focus on the very start of the employment life cycle: the recruitment and offer process.

Before you accept the offer – five areas to negotiate

Being offered a new senior role is an exciting career milestone. Before you accept, you have a unique opportunity to influence the terms of your employment, clarify expectations and address potential issues before they arise. During offer discussions, you will often have your greatest negotiating leverage – use it wisely – to shape the terms on which you will join, operate and, if necessary, leave. The aim is not to make the process difficult, but to start the relationship with clarity, protect the value of the opportunity and set yourself up for long-term success.

Here are five key areas to focus on before you sign terms.

1. Create the right starting point 

A new employer will usually seek comfort that your appointment does not create risk for their business or organisation. Some protections are standard, but others can expose you personally or create practical difficulties from day one. 

Former employer obligations 

Check what you are being asked to confirm about your obligations to a former employer. You should: 

• Review any warranties, confirmations or indemnities carefully. 

• Be confident that joining the new employer will not breach confidentiality, fiduciary duties or post-termination restrictions. 

• Treat indemnities with particular caution, as they may require you to cover significant losses if a confirmation proves incorrect. 

• If in doubt, take advice – we can review the position with you and help manage any sensitive conversations with your new employer.

Outside interests 

Expect to disclose outside roles, directorships, trusteeships and material investments, especially if your new role involves taking on a directorship. Make sure any disclosure obligation is workable in practice. 

• Be wary of commitments that require impractical levels of disclosure, such as every personal shareholding. 
• Ensure you can comply both at the outset and on an ongoing basis.
• We can help you negotiate carve-outs or practical workarounds to ensure that you can meet these obligations.

Probation periods

Probation periods are often included based on a template contract rather than configured to your specific role. You can ask for one to be removed, but it may not be worth spending too much negotiating capital on this if the employer resists. Instead, focus on sensible guardrails, including notice periods, understanding the review process and the consequences for bonus, incentives and benefits if employment ends during probation.

2. Align the contract with the day-to-day reality 

Senior contracts often say little about the practical reality of the role. That is normal, but just because the detail will not be set out in the contract, that does not mean it should wait until after the contract is signed. Use the negotiation phase to flush out assumptions to avoid any misunderstanding or even disputes down the line. These can include:

• Where you will work – agree expectations on office presence, hybrid working, travel and international commitments. 
• When you will work – understand any expectations around time zones, availability and working pattern. 
• What you will do – confirm priorities, authority, reporting lines, budget ownership and decision-making scope. If you are taking up a regulated position or directorship ensure that any record of your duties (e.g. Statement of Responsibilities) accurately reflects these discussions.
• How responsibilities can change – look out for clauses that allow your employer to alter your role, and ensure these powers are appropriately limited. 
• Your wider duties – understand duties of good faith, fiduciary duties and, if relevant, directors’ duties or regulatory obligations. If you are taking on a regulated role or directorship, consider asking for tailored training. 

3. Get under the bonnet of the reward package

The headline package is only the start. Executive remuneration is an area where value is generated and lost in the detail, particularly around bonus, equity, benefits and what happens if employment ends. Use the negotiation phase to do your due diligence on the detail of the reward package on offer and ensure that key terms that you have agreed are appropriately documented.

Salary and reviews

• Confirm that base salary and the wider package are aligned with the role and with comparable senior executives.
• Ask how pay reviews usually operate, even where the contract gives the employer broad discretion.

Bonus, equity and incentives

• Ask for all relevant plan rules, award letters and policy documents before you sign.
• Identify what is guaranteed, what is discretionary, who decides outcomes and how.
• Where you are leaving value behind in leaving your current role, consider negotiating a sign-on bonus, buy-out award or first-year guarantee.
• Ensure any agreed commitments to variable pay entitlements are clearly documented, ideally in the contract or offer letter.
• Check bonus clawback provisions, malus, leaver and vesting provisions carefully, especially for equity or deferred awards.

Benefits

• Review the full benefits package, not just pay.
• Pay particular attention to sickness and incapacity benefits.
• Check holiday entitlement. For senior roles, 25 days plus bank holidays should be the minimum expectation, with 30 days often negotiable.

4. If you are becoming a director – understand your duties

A directorship is an additional responsibility to your employment and is governed by corporate law, bringing further legal duties and potential exposure [link to directors’ duties/becoming a director articles from checkmate]. The terms of a directorship are usually documented in the same contract.  Pay particular attention to the provisions that govern your responsibilities, protections and potential liabilities as a director.

• Check for a company undertaking to provide directors’ and officers’ (or ‘D&O’) insurance in your contract and review the policy before you sign. Ensure D&O insurance is in place from day one, is adequate and continues after termination. We recommend at least six years of run-off cover.
• Clarify what happens if the directorship ends but employment continues, and vice versa.
• Resist automatic resignation obligations that take effect immediately on notice – it is better for all parties for an orderly transition to be agreed.

5. Plan for an exit before you need it

Termination provisions are often overlooked or treated as standard and not negotiated at the start of a role, but negotiating robust exit provisions now will put you in a stronger position if things don’t go to plan or you decide to move on in the future. The key areas to look at are:

Notice

Senior executives typically see notice periods of 6–12 months, although shorter periods are becoming more common.

• Consider whether security or flexibility matters more to you.
• Longer notice can provide financial protection and leverage in an employer-led exit.
• Shorter notice provides greater flexibility if a new opportunity arises.

Payment in lieu of notice (PILON)

A PILON provision allows your employer to terminate immediately and pay you notice instead of requiring you to work your notice period.

• Check how PILON is calculated – it is standard for PILON to be based on base salary only, but, if variable pay forms a large part of your package, consider whether there is scope to negotiate.
• Look out for provisions which allow payment in instalments and mitigation wording that allows payments to stop if you find another role – these are becoming more common.

Garden leave

As an alternative to a PILON, it is standard for senior employment contracts to give employers the power to place employees on ‘garden leave’ during their notice period.  This is unlikely to be negotiable.

Understand what restrictions will apply, including contact with colleagues, clients and customers, and when you can start a new role.

Incentives on exit

• Know what happens to bonus, deferred awards, equity and other incentives if notice is served or employment ends.
• Review good leaver and bad leaver terms which apply to more complex incentives including vesting, exercise windows and any discretion retained by the employer.
• We recommend taking advice on the detail of these provisions to ensure you understand them, as they can carry significant financial value in an exit.

Post-termination restrictions

• Check the scope, duration and practical impact of non-competes, non-solicits, non-dealing clauses and confidentiality obligations – which senior contracts will almost invariably contain.
• Make sure the restrictions reflect your actual role, seniority and client or market exposure.
• Take advice before challenging restrictions. The law around the enforceability of these restrictions is complex, meaning that challenging restrictions that you think are unreasonable is not always to your tactical advantage

Final thought

Your contract will not determine whether you succeed in a new role, but it can have a significant impact on your protections, financial position and options if circumstances change. The offer stage is often your best opportunity to shape those outcomes, but we understand the need to balance that against maintaining goodwill while starting a new role.  Focus on the terms that matter most and ensure you fully understand the detail behind the headline package.

Our employment team regularly works with senior executives to review and negotiate their terms of employment before starting a new role. We can help you understand what is market standard, identify potential risks and opportunities, and negotiate terms that reflect your priorities. Involving us early can also help to depersonalise sensitive discussions, making negotiations more straightforward while ensuring you start your new role on the strongest possible footing.