non-competition
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- flyingnowhere
you guys ever have to sign a non-compitition agreement?
- JackRyan0
A few years ago when my roommates girlfriend moved in.
- haflyingnowhere
- Seriously, I've had to sign quite a few when I was doing a lot of freelance work.JackRyan
- high fiveepikore
- sublocked0
^ fail
- ukit0
I never compete. I always give in. I'm a wuss like that.
- fyoucher10
all the time...
- epikore0
^ pass
- ukit0
In all seriousness, yeah, it's pretty standard practice at many jobs. Why?
- flyingnowhere0
my employer is changing business models.
from in house company owned to web developementi do freelance on the side
and do quite nicelynow they say "NO MORE"
not sure what to do
- ukit0
Wha? Screw that.
I thought you meant more like, don't compete with Microsoft products if you work there, that kind of thing.
That's shitty:(
- epikore0
if you want to keep your job, sign it
- fyoucher10
Non-compete is for when you work for one company doing work for one of their clients. So you can't turn around and say 'Hey, I made this for you when XXX company charged you this much $$$. Instead of going through this company, come to me and I'll charge you a tenth of the price. Yours truly. - Obama Bin Laden"
- orangecrunch0
"I am willing to sign a non-compete if you are willing to compensate me _______ to my annual salary for signing it"
I believe that is fair
- +1fyoucher1
- I am willing to fire you though.version3
- yeah, this has been brought up by another employeeflyingnowhere
- orangecrunch0
if it is a small to mid-size place they won't. they are interested in keeping their clients as well as losing them because the next fool they hire cant do the work you were currently doing.
- acescence0
they are kind of a legal grey area. at least here in california, the law sort of voids non-compete agreements, you can't prevent someone from lawfully engaging in business or trade
- acescence0
but the law is all of one sentence long and doesn't specifically address non-competes by name. in any case, it is indeed illegal to "steal" trade secrets or confidential business information.
- vaxorcist0
Are you in California?
(Wikipedia says)
"Non-compete agreements are automatically void as a matter of law in California as against public policy, except for a small number of limited circumstances expressly authorized by statute. (California Business and Professions Code Section 16600). See, e.g., Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP, 44 Cal. 4th 937 (2008). They were outlawed by the original California Civil Code in 1872"You can also argue about the "restriction on employee's ability to earn a living."
I've been asked to sign a few, and I usually have been able to have a conversation to address the business partners real underlying fears, rather than have my rights taken away in a rather arbitrary way..... If they're hardline, I'd look for other people to do business with, as this may lead to future issues....
If they have no clients and are asking you to sign a non-compete, they probably have something slightly different in mind than the usual law is about.... or maybe they've been just told by a lawyer to "cover all bases" which isn't really meaningful....
I can guess they're a startup and they don't want you to steal the ideas.... a non-disclosure agreement may suffice.... but IANAL....
- ukit0
Seriously, what are the chances that a client hires you that would have hired them? It's stupid...
- flyingnowhere0
ha, they go so far as to say, any job i run across should be filtered through the company and not taken on as freelance
- this is not a good sign, they seem paranoid, and possibly disrespectful of your talents and need to pay the rent...vaxorcist
- Scotch_Roman0
I had a verbal non-compete at the former employ, only saying that I wouldn't solicit their clients for 18 months after leaving the firm, and that I wouldn't freelance on the side.
Glad I'm not there anymore. I'm also glad I never affixed my signature to something that signed over self-promo rights.