If the purpose of non-competition agreements is to preserve companies’ ownership of specific technologies or intellectual property developed by and legaly ownable by them, then non-competetion should be STRICTLY limited just to those items, and not allowed to effect a blanket and open-ended suffocation of further innovation by the employee (once he/she leaves the company). …
Continue reading “Balancing company rights vs. employee’s rights”
In technical fields, scientists and development engineers are subject to NCAs, but so are quality engineers, technical writers, and UX people, to name a few, often because they work in the engineering part of the organization. However, non-engineers are not about to apply what they know about their last company’s products to those of the …
Employers, large and small can be damaged by employees moving to the competition. When this happens, it is not only the “employers” that are damaged, but also fellow employees, co-workers and team members who may be damaged by both losing the expertise of the co-worker and by potential weakening of the overall company effort in …
Continue reading “There Are Several Dimensions to Non-Competes”
Perhaps some form of disclosure should be added to regulations on employment contracts thus creating greater transparency from the start. I fully agree that in the 21st century, 6 months should be adequate but am concerned about the exemptions at higher levels . In areas such as art or music where unique talent is present, …
My only non-compete was as a high tech recruiter / staffing consultant. The length of time should be rational given the sales cycle. The industry standard seems to be a one year non-compete agreement with a 50 mile or more radius from the company’s market area. A year is certainly excessive since within 3 months …
Continue reading “Six months is certainly long enough – maybe too long?”
Sorry, but I am an absolutist on this. Businesses are giving you a line of BS. There is adequate protection for their legitimate interests in trade secret and other intellectual property law, and in allowing non-poaching agreements, which are very legit. But limiting the livelihood of an employee — their ability to use the generic …
Continue reading “Let’s get as close as possible to the California approach — it makes sense!”
