Physician 90-Day Notice Asymmetry & Locum Tenens Penalty Playbook
Healthcare employment agreements frequently contain extreme notice asymmetry: the employer can terminate you Without Cause on 30 days’ notice (or immediately for vague "disruptive behavior" or "inability to work harmoniously"), while requiring you to give 180 days’ written notice to resign—backed by a $1,000–$2,000 per day "Locum Tenens Liquidated Damages" penalty for every day short of 180 days.
Dermatologist Assessed $90,000 in Locum Tenens Liquidated Damages for Giving 90 Days’ Notice Instead of 180
A board-certified dermatologist gave 90 days’ written notice to relocate for her spouse’s fellowship. Her private-equity dermatology contract required 180 days’ notice from the doctor (versus 60 days from the employer) and imposed a $1,500/day liquidated penalty ($1,500 x 60 workdays = $90,000), which the PE group deducted straight from her accrued Q3 collections bonus.
EndorseIQ™ enforces symmetrical 90-day mutual notice, deletes locum tenens daily penalties, and requires paid Garden Leave if the employer accelerates the exit date.
Check Your Full Contract PDF for Cross-Section Overrides (Free 60s Scan)
Fixing one clause alone often fails when a buried definition, exhibit, or survival clause elsewhere in your Medical & Professional Malpractice neutralizes your protection. Drop your PDF or Word (.docx) below for an instant, 100% anonymous cross-section audit.
“Either Party may terminate this Agreement Without Cause upon ninety (90) days’ mutual prior written notice. If Employer elects to relieve Physician of clinical duties prior to the expiration of any 90-day notice period ("Garden Leave"), Employer shall continue to pay Physician’s full Base Salary, wRVU average, and benefits through the full 90-day notice period. All per-diem or locum
What to Say to the Malpractice Carrier & Employer / Hospital Group
"Notice periods need to be symmetrical at 90 days for both sides, with full pay if Employer waives my clinical shifts during the notice window, and For-Cause termination must require a 30-day written cure window rather than subjective personality language."
Why they drafted it this way: Hospitals want 6 months to recruit your replacement while keeping the right to cut your salary or fire you in 30 days—and use subjective "disruptive physician" clauses to reclassify a Without-Cause firing into a For-Cause firing (avoiding notice pay and triggering tail insurance liability).
Mandatory Audit Checklist Points
- Make Without-Cause termination notice 100% symmetrical (e.g., 90 days for both Employer and Physician)
- Require full Garden Leave pay and benefits if Employer tells Physician not to come in during the notice period
- Delete all $1,000–$2,000/day Locum Tenens Liquidated Damages penalties
- Add a 30-day written notice and cure period to "For Cause" termination and remove subjective "harmonious/disruptive" triggers
Paste Your Physician Notice Asymmetry & Subjective For-Cause Termination Section or Upload Your Full Medical & Professional Malpractice (.pdf / .docx)
Check if your draft has a hidden loophole or cross-section override. Click ⚡ Preview Sample Audit (Instant) to see a live demo in 0.2s, or upload your own PDF / Word (.docx) contract below:
EndorseIQ™ Policy & Binder Scanner
ACTIVE ENGINE: ENDORSEIQ™ (MULTI-HOP ISO & COVERAGE GRAPH)Frequently Asked Questions
Why do employers put "inability to work harmoniously" inside the For-Cause termination section?
If an employer fires you "Without Cause," they usually owe you 90 days’ notice pay and must pay your tail insurance. By labeling a normal disagreement over staffing or scheduling as "For Cause — inability to work harmoniously," they can fire you effective immediately with $0 notice pay and force you to buy your own tail policy.
How do I redline Physician Notice Asymmetry & Subjective For-Cause Termination traps in my Medical & Professional Malpractice anonymously without creating an account?
Upload your Medical & Professional Malpractice PDF or Word (.docx) draft to ExclusionRadar.com to run the "Physician 90-Day Notice Asymmetry & Locum Tenens Penalty Playbook" defense cartridge 100% anonymously—with zero account registration, zero email login, and stateless in-memory processing. EndorseIQ™ flags Physician Notice Asymmetry & Subjective For-Cause Termination exposure (typically $45,000 – $90,000+ in Liquidated Locum Tenens Penalties or Unpaid Gap Months; documented unredlined loss: $90,000 withheld from final quarterly production bonus), checks for cross-section overrides, and exports a ready-to-send Microsoft Word (.docx) Track-Changes file.
More Medical & Professional Malpractice Redline Playbooks
View All Medical & Professional Malpractice PlaybooksPhysician Claims-Made Retroactive Date & 80/20 Hammer Clause
When switching malpractice or professional E&O carriers (or signing a new physician/group contract), setting the Claims-Made "Retroactive Date" to the new policy’s inception date instead of your original career Prior Acts date silently wipes out coverage for every patient or client you treated over the prior 5 years! Worse, an 80/20 or 100% "Hammer Clause" penalizes you for refusing a nuisance settlement that would permanently blemish your National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) record.
Physician & Professional E&O Tail Coverage + Cal. Labor Code § 2870 Audit
California medical group, hospital, and professional practice agreements combine two high-cost traps: (1) shifting 100% of the 200%–225% Extended Reporting Period (ERP / Tail) malpractice insurance premium onto the departing professional even when terminated without cause, and (2) exploiting California Labor Code § 2870 by defining "Company’s Business or anticipated R&D" so broadly that the employer claims ownership of your clinical patents, medical devices, or off-hours software.
New York Employee IP Assignment (NY Labor Law § 203-f) & Non-Compete Redline Auditor
New York enacted NY Labor Law § 203-f rendering unenforceable any employment provision requiring an employee to assign inventions developed entirely on their own time without using the employer’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secrets. However, like California, § 203-f contains an exception for inventions that "relate to the employer’s business, or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development"—which NYC finance, media, and tech employers draft to swallow everything you ever create, alongside unpaid "Garden Leave" notice periods.
Texas Executive & Physician Non-Compete Redline Auditor (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.50)
Under Texas Business & Commerce Code § 15.50, a non-compete is enforceable if it is ancillary to an otherwise enforceable agreement (like providing confidential information or specialized training) and contains reasonable limits on time, geographic area, and scope of activity. Texas employers routinely draft 24-month nationwide non-competes that apply even if the company fires you without Cause after 90 days—and for physicians/healthcare practitioners, try to inflate the mandatory statutory buyout clause.