Editing Labour law (section)

===Employment terms===
{{Main|Employment contract|At-will employment|Intellectual capital}}
The basic feature of labour law in almost every country is that the rights and obligations of the worker and the employer are mediated through a [[contract of employment]] between the two. This has been the case since the collapse of [[feudalism]]. Many contract terms and conditions are covered by [[legislation]] or [[common law]]. In the US for example, the majority of [[State law (United States)|state laws]] allow for [[At-will employment|employment to be "at-will"]], meaning the employer can terminate an employee from a position for any reason so long as the reason is not explicitly prohibited,{{efn|For example, an employee's refusal to violate law or an employee's assertion of rights.}} and, conversely, an employee may quit at any time, for any reason (or for no reason), and is not required to give notice.

A major issue for any business is to understand the relationship between the worker and the master. There are two types of workers, independent contractors and employees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/abc_test|title=ABC Test|website=LII / Legal Information Institute|language=en|access-date=2020-04-12|archive-date=2021-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531120809/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/abc_test|url-status=live}}</ref> They are differentiated based on the level of control the master has on them. Workers provided tools and resources, closely supervised, paid regularly, etc., are considered employees of the company. Employees must act in the best interest of the employer.

One example of employment terms in many countries<ref>e.g. In the European Union, Directive 91/533</ref> is the duty to provide written particulars of employment with the ''[[essentialia negotii]]'' ([[Latin]] for "essential terms") to an employee. This aims to allow the employee to know concretely what to expect and what is expected. It covers items including [[Compensation and benefits|compensation]], [[Annual leave|holiday]] and [[sick leave|illness rights]], notice in the [[Termination of employment|event of dismissal]] and [[job description]].

The contract is subject to various legal provisions. An employer may not legally offer a contract that pays the worker less than a minimum wage. An employee may not agree to a contract that allows an employer to [[Wrongful dismissal|dismiss them for illegal reasons]].{{efn|In the US, under the [[National Labor Relations Act]], a worker has no right to organize where he is considered a manager, see ''NLRB v. Kentucky River Community Care'', [http://www.lawmemo.com/nlrb/kyrivercases.htm 532 U.S. 706] (2001)}}

Intellectual property is the vital asset<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wipo.int/sme/en/documents/value_ip_intangible_assets_fulltext.html|title=The Value of Intellectual Property, Intangible Assets and Goodwill|website=www.wipo.int|language=en|access-date=2020-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404145456/https://www.wipo.int/sme/en/documents/value_ip_intangible_assets_fulltext.html|archive-date=2020-04-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> of the business, employees add value to the company<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://partners.wsj.com/aon/balancing-risk-with-opportunity/right-ip-strategy-can-maximize-enterprise-value/|title=Paid Program: IP Risk in IPOs and M&As|date=2019-10-09|website=Aon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-12|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418085725/https://partners.wsj.com/aon/balancing-risk-with-opportunity/right-ip-strategy-can-maximize-enterprise-value/|url-status=live}}</ref> by creating Intellectual Property. As per Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Intellectual Property is personal property.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm|title=WTO {{!}} intellectual property (TRIPS) – what are intellectual property rights?|website=www.wto.org|access-date=2020-04-12|archive-date=2019-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706160029/https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Intellectual property is used as competitive advantage<ref>{{Cite news|last=Conley|first=David Orozco and James|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121018802603674487|title=Shape of Things to Come|date=2008-05-12|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=2020-04-12|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=2020-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201121551/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121018802603674487|url-status=live}}</ref> by big companies to protect themselves from rivalry. Given the conditions,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=Antone|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304070304577395953754702524|title=5 'IP' Mistakes Start-ups Should Avoid|date=2012-05-10|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=2020-04-12|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418090139/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304070304577395953754702524|url-status=live}}</ref> if the worker is in the agent-principal relationship, he is the employee of the company, and if the employee's invention is in the scope of employment i.e. if the employee creates a new product or process to increase the productivity and create organizations' wealth by utilizing the resources of the company, then the Intellectual property solely belongs to the company. New business products or processes are protected under Patents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents|title=General information concerning patents|website=www.uspto.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-12|archive-date=2021-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116104326/https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/general-information-concerning-patents|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are differing opinions on what constitutes a patentable invention.  One area of disagreement is with respect to software inventions, but there have been court cases that have established some precedents.  For example, in the case ''[[Diamond v. Diehr]]'' the [[US Supreme Court]] decided that Diehr is patent- eligible because they improved the existing technological process, not because they were implemented on a computer.