EMPLOYMENT OF AN ENGINEER 17 



2. The agreement Advisability of writing. In every case, 

 whether it be legally required or not, the agreement should be 

 put into writing. Everything may appear to be plain and 

 simple at the time when the vacant post is applied for the 

 salary definite, the duties plain-sailing, the length of notice to 

 terminate the employment accurately prescribed ; but never- 

 theless it is a golden rule to have it all reduced into writing. 

 Further, a solicitor should be consulted before the document 

 is signed. He may not understand the technical nature of 

 the duties which are to be performed ; but he will be versed in 

 the technicalities of the law, and ought to be able to make his 

 client understand enough about them to know whether he is 

 tying a millstone round his neck or not. Where the contract 

 is with a company, it may be desirable to ascertain whether 

 the company has power to contract. (On this point, see Chap. 

 VI., 6, post.) 



3. Necessity for writing. In certain cases, however, an 

 agreement cannot be enforced unless it has been reduced into 

 writing. Thus it is provided by the Statute of Frauds that 

 " No action shall be brought upon any agreement that is not 

 to be performed within the space of one year from the making 

 thereof, unless the agreement upon which such action shall be 

 brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in 

 writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or 

 some other person thereunto by him lawfully authorised." 



The following agreements have been held to come within 

 this provision : An agreement for service to last more than 

 a year, defeasible by three months' notice on either side ; an 

 agreement for life, subject to its being determined by death, 

 or retirement, or misconduct ; and an agreement not to set up 

 a certain trade during the joint lives of the parties to it. 



A contract to serve for one year, the service to commence 

 on the second day after that on which the contract is made, is 

 a contract not to be performed within a year within the mean- 

 ing of this provision (Britain v. Rossiter, 1879, 11 Q. B. D. 

 128). Thus, suppose an employer made a proposal in writing 

 to an engineer to enter his service for a year ; and that the 

 engineer, taking up the proposal, were to commence work 

 upon the strength of it three or four days afterwards : this 

 would be a contract made on the day of the proposal. Unless 

 the proposal was signed by the employer, the contract could 



L.A.B. 



