In Which Middle Escapes the Grip of the Giant Conglomerate (With His Wits)

On Tuesday evening, Middle mentioned that he was being asked to sign two documents regarding his employ with a very well known company. A huge company. A highly regarded company. A company the products and services of we all use every day, all day. A company that thousands of people apply to but which asked Middle if he might work for them.
Obviously I cannot tell you the name of this company.

One of these documents seemed pretty straight forward. How he'd be paid, when he'd be paid, his agreeing to decline to be insured (grrrr).
But the other document was a 21 page "conditions of employment" contract and it was formidable.
I had a look at it and, frankly, was too scared to speculate on the meaning of parts of it and so I told him I'd have someone at work have a look at it.

I can't stress this part enough: this company is one of the top companies in the world, known for being an amazing place to work - people love working at this place...but this contract....

Among other issues, Middle would have to be willing to surrender his camera, his phone and his laptop at any time for "audit." He would have to agree to list any and all of the video projects he's been involved in and they could, possibly, become the property of the company. And, anything he created whilst working there would, in the end, not be his.

I went to work the next day with a copy of the document. I gave it to KT in contracts and she agreed to discuss points with TK (oh, look at that! KT/TK) who was on vacation but reachable.
TK is an intellectual property attorney, and has acted on our behalf before.

They spent a bit of time with it and KT came to see me later in the day to say that it was, in fact, the standard document used by the giant company. TK felt that it was over-reaching in its scope but said that so many people want jobs there that they sign their lives away. She suggested he mention his concerns but also that she knew, for a fact, that they would not hire him if he didn't sign it (there have been other times where she's said that employers want their prospective employees to question clauses).

I went home and told him what they'd said.

We talked more about what it would mean to work for these people and the fact that he has several other jobs. 

We talked about buying a computer solely for use at this one company. 

We worried about what they might want to claim as their "property" in the future.

We left the dinner table and I assumed he would sign. He might not like it, I thought, but who wouldn't want to work there?

Him, it turns out.

He came upstairs late that night and told me he wasn't signing. 

I went to work the next day, nervous. 

He left shortly after I did and went into town and told the man he worked with that he didn't want to sign.

I think the guy was incredulous, but Middle had really thought it out.
He didn't want to be part of the culture of that company... but I don't think they'd met a 20 year old who didn't jump at the chance.

They stumbled over how to pay him for the time he'd worked (a couple of days) and he left the building.
You know, the building where he texted me about the breakfast bar? And the snack cabinet?

And the perks people adore?

He called me an hour after he arrived there to say he was on his way home.

We're tremendously proud of him.

By that evening he seemed a little shaken.

Your friends at work saved my ass, he said, which may be over-reaching too, but we all think he made the right decision for him.

And the contract?