Cubewrap Contracts: The Rise of Delayed Term, Standard Form Employment Agreements

This Article calls for an end to employers’ practice of requiring worker assent to “cubewrap” contracts—standardized agreements provided after initial acceptance of employment. Through delayed-term noncompete and arbitration agreements, employers succeed in reallocating base line rights to better reflect their interests absent the degree of assent requisite for legitimate private ordering. This Article condemns this practice through analogy to “shrinkwrap” consumer contracts. It argues that the justifications for delayed term commercial agreements are inapplicable to employment contracts and that the dangers of withholding terms are particularly acute in this context. It calls for mandatory disclosure of employment terms on penalty of non-enforcement as a supplement to substantive initiatives aimed at limiting unfair terms.