/hiring-review

1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/CLAUDE.md → jurisdictional footprint, hiring review triggers, restrictive covenant policy.
2. Use the workflow below.
3. Check: jurisdiction, classification, restrictive covenants, background check compliance.
4. Flag anything that hits the jurisdiction-specific escalation table.

Matter context

Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (the default for in-house users), skip the rest of this paragraph — skills use practice-level context and the matter machinery is invisible. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /employment-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Load the active matter's matter.md for matter-specific context and overrides. Write outputs to the matter folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/. Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Purpose

Offer letters are mostly boilerplate until they're not. The jurisdiction check and the restrictive-covenant check are where this skill earns its keep. The skill does not state the law — every jurisdiction-specific rule is researched and cited at the time of review.

Load context

~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/CLAUDE.md → jurisdictional footprint, hiring review triggers, restrictive covenant policy, offer letter template location.

Output header

Prepend the work-product header from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/CLAUDE.md → ## Outputs (it differs by user role — see ## Who's using this).

Workflow

Step 1: Jurisdiction

Where will this person work? Not where HQ is — where they are.

If remote: their home state/country governs. If hybrid: usually their home state, but check the offer letter's choice-of-law clause (may or may not hold up).

Check the jurisdiction table in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/CLAUDE.md for this state/country. If it's not in the table — new jurisdiction — flag that: "First hire in [state]. The jurisdiction table doesn't cover this. Research needed before offer goes out."

Step 2: Classification

Exempt or non-exempt? The offer should say, and the role should support it.

Research before calling exemption. Identify the currently operative salary thresholds (federal and state — several states index annually and several have tiered thresholds by employer size) and the applicable duties test(s) for the role. Cite primary sources. Verify currency.

If the offer says exempt but the role description does not support the exempt duties — flag it. Misclassification is expensive.

Step 3: Restrictive covenants

If the offer includes a non-compete, customer non-solicit, employee non-solicit, or confidentiality/IP assignment:

Research enforceability before advising. For the employee's jurisdiction, identify the currently operative rules on each restrictive covenant in the offer. Non-compete enforceability in particular has shifted in multiple states in recent years through legislation, agency action, and litigation — do not rely on prior memory of which states permit non-competes. Note:

• The specific type of covenant (non-compete, customer non-solicit, employee non-solicit, confidentiality/trade-secret, IP assignment) — each has its own rules.
• Any salary or income threshold that conditions enforceability.
• Any notice, consideration, or garden-leave requirements.
• Any industry-specific carve-outs (e.g., healthcare, broadcasting).

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