AGREEMENT、CONTRACTの意味、合意、契約

@Work 2010.11.24 (Review of 2007.08.27 edition)
Hello again! We hope you enjoyed yourself yesterday. It was your day after all! And now that you are fresh from a day off, you should be well prepared to negotiate some excellent terms with your future employer.

Make sure they pay you what you're worth!
Today's Lesson CATEGORY: 混同しやすい言葉
 

AGREEMENT vs. CONTRACT   合意 vs. 契約

Explanation
An agreement or contract is an arrangement between individuals, companies, or other groups to do something, or the document in which the terms of the arrangement are written.

Be Careful! An agreement can be formal or informal, written or verbal (= spoken). A contract, however, is usually formal and written; therefore, the word "contract" would normally NOT be used in situations such as those in Examples 1 and 2a.
agreement または contract とは、個人や企業、その他の集団の間で交わされる、何らかの行動を取るという取り決めや、取り決めの条件が書かれた文書のことです。

注意： agreement は、公式、非公式を問わず、また、文書、口頭、いずれの取り決めにも使います。一方 contract は、たいていの場合、公式の文書によるものをさします。したがって、例文の１や２のａのような場合には、contract ではなく agreement を使うのが一般的です。
AGREEMENT vs. CONTRACT

examples
1 I made an agreement with my staff to take them out for drinks after work on Friday whenever they have to work more than 10 hours of overtime in a week.
2 (employee to employer)
a:  But we had an agreement that when Howard left I could have his position. So you have to give it to me.
b:  I'm sorry. I may have said that, but I don't have to do anything that's not in your contract.
3 After weeks of negotiations, they were finally able to reach an agreement on the terms of the merger.
4 She's a freelance graphic artist who has contracts with several Fortune 500 companies.
5 Be sure to read the small print before signing any contract.
6 They've threatened to sue us, claiming that we've broken the terms of our contract.
7 If we win this contract, you'll all be getting large winter bonuses.
英会話レッスン We'll keep the wheels of industry turning with another @Work edition tomorrow!