Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: When does this agreement expire?

The interpretation of a contract is primarily a matter of determining the intent of the parties. Where possible, this is done from the language of the agreement.

Your contract says "within six months of relocation..." I would argue that the relocation date is the date you moved to California intending to stay here. This may be before the start date of your job. However preliminary visits to interview or hunt for a home don't count.

Of course, other facts you have not mentioned may show a different intention and therefore affect the meaning of the contract. If a dispute arises, consult an attorney.

Re: When does this agreement expire?

Based solely upon the limited portion of the agreement which you have provided, my answer would be "none of the above."

The six month period started to run on the day you relocated, not on the day anybody signed a piece of paper or on the day you started the job.

Then the question becomes "When did you relocate?". This could be interpreted as when you left your old home or when you took up residence in your new home. In addition, the processes of moving in and moving out each usually take more than one day, so there is some room for ambiguity.

Your question suggests that you moved into your new home after October 18 and before October 28. Depending upon specific facts which I obviously do not know, it seems like the six-month period must have begun during this interval. You should be safe if you assume that it began on October 28, though there is room to argue that it began earlier.

Given that this question was posted on April 16 -- twelve days before the six month period beginning on October 28 would have expired -- my guess is that your concern is rather time-sensitive. If you still have your job, though, you should be safe if you just keep it for another twelve days before resigning. (The contract language only applies if you "choose to terminate [your] employment".)

Let me repeat that this answer is based solely on the brief passage of the contract you have quoted to me and without any knowledge of the specific facts. My answer might be different if I had the information which I presently lack.

Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss this further.

Re: When does this agreement expire?

One issue that you did not ask about -- and which my esteemed colleagues did not touch on -- is whether you were induced to relocate for a job that was misrepresented to you. Obviously, you have had problems with the job and are (or shortly will be) no longer there. There are California laws that protect a person from that misrepresentation. They originally were designed to protect migrant farm workers, but have been applied to all sorts of situations. Good luck to you.

Re: When does this agreement expire?

The short answer to your question is "I don't know." I do not think anyone knows for sure.

There is a chance that your agreement includes a definition of relocation, which would probably control. My gut says that relocation would be found to be when you actually moved to California, although your employer would want to claim that time clock begins when the agreement was properly entered into -- the last signature.

The most important question is why is it important to you now? Work back from there and find out how important it is to you. It may sound trite, but you could simply ask your employer, while making it clear that you intend to stay for the full six months.

Nothing in this email is legal advice, and not necessarily even good advice. I do not know enough about this situation to actually advise you. The above is an off-the-cuff response with some ideas. If you are really concerned, I must echo my colleagues -- hire a lawyer to go over all of the facts, review the law and then advise you.