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Non compete

Oct 2024 - FTC ban on worker noncompete agreements blocked by federal judge

Are Non-Competes Enforceable? | A Corporate Lawyer Explains

Non Compete: prohibits the employee from working with one of your competitors or starting a rival firm. These agreements are typically signed at the beginning of an employment relationship and stay in place for a specific period after their employment ends. The purpose of a non-compete agreement is to protect a company’s trade secrets, confidential information, and goodwill from being shared or used by a former or current employee or independent contractor to benefit a competitor.

If an employer is willing to hire you, and assuming that you're not a highly placed executive who would legitimately be taking trade secrets worth pursuing, I think you would be fine.

PROFESSIONS WHERE NON-COMPETES ARE COMMON Some professions rely more heavily on non-compete agreements than others. These include:

  • Sales jobs,
  • Executives,
  • Software development,
  • Marketing, and
  • Media.

https://www.katzlawgroup.com/non-compete-agreements

  1. No legitimate business interest. A non-compete agreement must serve a legitimate business interest, such as protecting trade secrets or confidential information. If the contractor doesn’t have access to confidential information or trade secrets, a non-compete agreement may not be necessary and consequently considered unenforceable.
  2. Inequitable. This refers to a situation when a non-compete agreement is one-sided, with terms and conditions that are excessively favorable to the employer.
  3. Coercion. If the employee or contractor faced job loss if refusing to sign the agreement, it could be considered invalid.

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/non-compete-clause-rulemaking

Each state has different restrictions and limitations​

Unenforceable​

As it stands now, North Dakota, California, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia are the only states where non-competes are unenforceable. states such as Massachusetts, Maine, Illinois, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington prohibit non-competes for low-wage employees.

  • unfair clauses that unfairly limit worker mobility
  • Agreements with language that is too broad, unreasonable, and burdensome can void an agreement
  • company-required non-compete agreements have become abusive in nature. This is because they’re one-sided and don’t benefit the employee.

Agreed upon conditions of employment​

In the event I am hired by BUILD then MARKET, I will not disclose, use, or take directly or indirectly, either during or after my assignment, any property of the client or proprietary information concerning the client and/or it's business except as authorized by any client to which I am assigned or to the extent permitted by law. I also agree to delivery promptly to the client (on request or on the date of termination of my assignment) all documents, copies thereof, and other material relating to any confidential or proprietary information that are property of the client.

I promise and agree not to perform any services, or accept any assignments (whether permanent or temporary), at any client of BUILD then MARKET while on assignment or employed by BUILD then MARKET, and for a period of 365 days after the last day of my assignment with BUILD then MARKET, without the prior written consent of BUILD then MARKET. I understand that BUILD then MARKET my condition such consent upon the payment of a fee or other compensation to BUILD then MARKET by the client.

Non-Competition Clause​

  • During the term of his employment under this Agreement, Employee shall not directly or indirectly, as an owner, partner, shareholder, employee, consultant, or in any similar manner, engage in any activity competitive with or adverse to the business in which the Company is engaged at the time. Following a termination pursuant to Section 6 herein, Employee covenants that he shall not, for two (2) years following such termination, directly or indirectly as an owner, partner, shareholder, employee, consultant, or in any similar manner, engage in any business activity or venture in direct competition with the Company, in the same type of business as the Company is eng aged at the time of the termination, it being understood that the competitive nature of any other ownership, employment, consultation or other activity shall be determined in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Company. This provision shall survive the termination of this Agreement for any reason.