I am writing a paper about unilateral and bilateral contracts in our everyday lives, but I am having a little trouble. At work, during our “morning rally,” as they like to call it, my boss shocked all of us. She announced that Macy’s would be opening at midnight the day after Thanksgiving! I was shocked, that meant that we had to be in the store at 11:30 on Thanksgiving day. My boss also said that we had a choice on which shift we wanted to work, the morning shift, or sometime later in the afternoon. All we had to do was go online and fill out a little survey about which shift we wanted. When I went online later that night, I filled out “survey.” It asked me my name, and how many hours a week I worked, and then it asked would I prefer to work at 11:30 on Thanksgiving day. If I agreed to work Thanksgiving day, I would get paid time and a half, plus I would get a little holiday bonus in my next check. I quickly realized that this wasn’t just a survey; it was a contract.
What kind of contract is it though? I mean they are saying if I promise to work at 11:30 on Thanksgiving they'll pay me plus give me a bonus so it should be unilateral right? On the other hand, by signing the contract, I agree to come in at eleven thirty, and they agree to pay they said amount so it is bilateral. I am so confused, can someone help me?
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I would consider it bilateral, as a mutual exchange of promises: You promise to work, and they promise to pay the given amount.
I can see how you might think unilateral but, let's look at the following examples:
If I offer to pay $100 to anyone who finds my cat, I am promising something in exchange for an act. No one is promossing to find the cat. So there is only one promise. If someone finds the cat I pay them for their act. Still unilateral because they never made a promise.
If I promise to sell my car to my brother for $2,000, and he agrees to pay $2,000, then it is bilateral because there are two promises. That is similar to your situation. You are promising to work the holiday in eschange for them promising to pay you extra money.
Hope that helps.
I was taught that a unilateral contract means that one party sets the terms, and the other party agrees to them (as in your example), and a bilateral contract means that both (all) parties negotiate terms and agree to them (i.e. if Joe had responded "I can do it for $25, but you'll have to pay for the gas").
It seems bilateral to me: both parties are making specific promises (you agree to work at 11:30, they agree to pay you time and a half, plus a little holiday bonus.)
In an unilateral contract one party agrees to do something, but the other party does't make to any specific agreement.