Well, there’s two really important points about the question that you just asked. The two really important points are, number one, there’s a – I apologize for sticking my face out  – you talked before about resources, and you know, I’m not the kind of lawyer who says, “Hey, only look at stuff I write.” There’s a really cool book that has all Minnesota employment laws in it, and you could read this in the bathtub, you could just read it when you’re at home in the middle of the football game. But there’s a lot of interesting stuff in here. And one of the things that’s in here that not a lot of employers know, is that there’s a rule in Minnesota that as an employer, if you don’t write down what the terms and conditions of your employment are, you have the burden to prove what they are.

Let me explain that better. The question you ask, “What if they’re a fixed-term contract?” So, the first thing I want employers to think about is you might have a fixed-term contract that you don’t even know you have because under Minnesota law the law says you’re supposed to write out for an employee what the terms of the agreement between you are with respect to employment. And if you don’t write it out you have the burden to prove that when you get to court. That’s a big deal.

So, you have to send notes telling people what the terms of their contract are. Other than that issue it’s pretty rare that folks have a specified term, and that’s typically when you just have a contract. And so, the contract should say, do you have to give notice or not. The respectful thing to do is to always give notice. But it may be short notice. Give notice and an opportunity to improve. And the contract will tell you whether you have to give a specific date and time and all that sort of thing.