You folks who bag groceries or deliver pizza don't have the intelligence, skills, or experience to understand a non compete or the need for it.  You foolishly think it's black or white, and it's not.

At it's most basic level, it prevents an employee from taking his customers and their business to another company.  There are a lot of companies that depend on the personal relationship between an employee and their customers, and the knowledge that employee develops.  The employee builds that relationship while drawing a salary from a company, the company is just trying to protect themselves from predatory recruiting.  They learn the field while at that company, and a competitor gets to hire them away with all they've learned and achieved at the expense of that company.  It's no different than intellectual property, which most of you won't understand either.

If you can't understand the need, it's because you don't have skills or knowledge that need to be protected.  

Nobody is forced to sign a non compete.  If a NCA is required, it's because the skills and knowledge you develop are unique to the company, and you don't have to take that job if you don't want to sign.  So it's a contract.  I had to sign one for a current employer under the threat of not getting my bonus that year.  That made it unenforceable, signed under threat of retribution.  When I left that company, a lot of my customers cancelled orders and went with a competitive product.  And I wasn't working for the other company, I just had the relationship and was the reason they were staying.  Of course the sales reps who used to be my friends, had to have an enemy and someone to blame for losing that business.  They threatened to go to court, but they knew it wouldn't stick.  

NCA rules and rulings are pretty fair.  In my state it cannot be too broad in scope or duration.  And that's fair.  A sales rep agreeing on the front end that he won't call on his customers for 9 months after he leaves is not too broad in scope or duration.  And, that commitment is required to get that job.  And again, nobody made him sign it.  That 9 months gives the company time to replace him and level the field.


I say all this having had a NCA used against me frivolously.

That’s why they are unenforceable. I’m leaving and I’m taking my rolodeck with me. Happens all the time.

What if the spent a decade teaching you their proprietary tech?

Then they should’ve had you sign an NDA?

That's what grocery clerks won't understand.

They do have say over you after you leave, if you agreed to it.

After I leave employment you have no say on who I do business with. NDA for IP, that’s fair and ethical business. Enforceable because there are real damages.

But non compete?  Dictating what I can do to make money while not employed by the company?  Fuck right off. It’s a scare tactic. They’ve never been enforceable. Sue me.

This lawyer agrees completely.

The transaction is over. Once employment is severed you have no control over me. This is America.

Except the Irish…

I work in an industry where non-competes are commonplace and onerous.  I’ve never asked anyone to sign a non-compete. If you don’t want to be here, why would I use legal means to keep you?   If you’re unhappy it’s best you move on.

Yup.

This grocery clerk says “have them create an NDA, not a non compete. “

Paper or plastic, sir?

No. No they don’t. IP/NDA sure.


That’s why non competes never hold up or pursued. It’s a scare tactic, nothing more.

The triggered ones won’t get that.

Thankfully old people like you, who still hold on to this archaic narrative are all dying off.

Non-compete agreements should have never existed in the first place. My little brother was cut off from the industry he works in for two years because he had to sign that bullshit.

Not trying to stir the pot, but why did he have to?

But some companies won’t hire if you are under a non-compete and also the time and money it takes to defend yourself from one can be crushing to an individual which is what the companies enforcing them hope for.

Meh, fuck non competes.  I'm 18 months into mine, which was suddenly thrust on me while doing the original hiring info/W2 paperwork, long after I'd given notice and closed up at my former company.

I'm not even sales and I'm locked out of my industry.

Wow, this is really gonna bite you in the ass isn't it?

The third time my last employer tried to "review my commission schedule (I let them get away with it the first 2 times) I put a message on my office number that I was out and please call me on my (personal) cell number....and I left it that way for 6 months until all my clients forgot my office number.  When I left I made a simple public announcement.

Money goes where it's appreciated,  not where it's bound

Proprietary information can be covered in an NDA.  As for customers, you don’t own them.  If the only thing keeping them doing business with you was the employee who just left, what does that say about you and your company.

Shhh.  They’re trying to have tantrums.

You had me in the first half, not gonna lie. Was expecting a new copy pasta

Sadly ends with simping for non competes

You sad deluded fool.

You think NCAs are mostly about sales people and account managers?

NCAs are literally fucking everywhere.

Including "folks who bag groceries or deliver pizza."

Why? Because when every employer is demanding you sign them, and you need a job, you sign.

Then its "oh, you don't like how we are fucking you over by changing your employment situation and compensation Doctor/Nurse/PA John/Jane? Well then, you can move at least 300 miles away because if you decide to work for the other clinic across town we'll sue your ass into the dirt. Or you can go pump gas, but they might have a NCA for you too. Maybe you can learn to code. Nope they have an NCA too."

NCAs were meant for a very narrow set of professionals, not 25% of the working population.

You might be surprised. This clearly falls under the 10th.

I will say that as a condition of membership in one of my professional societies, I cannot solicit known clients of other members.

If the competing members client comes to me then all bets are off, but if I KNOW they are a client of another member, I have agreed not to directly solicit them.

It’s not a bad rule; and I don’t have a problem with it. The whole  point is to  try not to bring down other members businesses by stealing clients.

Non competes have never had any real teeth. I've worked for a lot of high-tech companies and every one of them had a non-compete agreement.

Not one of them ever tried to enforce it because they knew they would lose. There's always a bigger fish.

You've said this four times now. Perhaps they're not enforceable in Kentucky.

These are very state-specific. And in many states, including mine, they're very enforceable as long as they're what the state and courts consider reasonable.

Former company made it expensive to fight them.

Would send letters to both the prospective employer as well as the individual.

Legal ain’t cheap.

Then they should have worked harder to protect their investment in me.
I've been under NCAs for years, and I'll be glad to see them go.

This is such a giant steaming pile of shit explanation, it is laughable.

What you're trying to explain falls more under the purview of a non-disclosure or non-solicitation agreement.

Non-competes are used by shit companies that are trying to assfuck employees who might try to leave to a better employer.

They're popular in my field (region dependent) and have nothing to do with protecting sensitive information and everything to do with bullying employees into staying in shitty jobs.

And they become common practice in states that allow them such that you either sign one or simply can't work.  It's an unethical practice that needs to be stomped into the ground and every employer that makes it part of their contract needs to be publicly shamed and bankrupted out of existence.

Other than sharing Secrets, they are bad.

This exactly

Fighting one still costs money, even if courts wil rule for the worker at the end.

Secrets would be covered by an NDA.

Non-Competes are a necessary evil in many industries and careers. If an employee doesn’t like the terms offered, they should find another company to work for. The FTC should have nothing to do with this aspect of employment.

You just made me realize something:   Half the ‘tards who bitch about  “Bootstraps”, have no idea what the expression means.  


Do yourself a favor.  Look it up.

I was asked to sign a do not compete after I was let go from a job. Laughed at the guy and pushed it back to him. He then told me they were getting their lawyer to draft an injunction to be signed by a judge to keep me from working at any competitor. I laughed even harder and told the guy "You actually expect me to believe that bull shit"

When I went to pick up my last check, the owner crumpled my check up and threw it at me.

About fucking time the govt does somthing for the common man.

Also Fuck the Chamber of commerce and the CEO assholes. C Suite does nothing but fuck everything up...all started since Jack "THE FUCKING RETARD" Welch got popular

Non competes should never have been legal in the first place.

I'm surprised corporations haven't yet tried forcing people to sign contracts to pay back a years salary if you quit or simply banning you from quitting altogether.

Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his bootstraps?

Who would’ve thought lol

They probably would if they could. Non-competes were the next best option. “We can’t force you to stay, so if you want to leave you aren’t allowed to stay in the field or go to a competitor.”

I disagree. I would love to have those terms offered as an employee. That would mean the company offered me beaucoup bucks and a position I was interested in. I’d be all in.

You can still have non-competes it will just be measured in dollars now.

I’m sure regarding state specific. Buy previous employer would have to show damages.

Yawn, bragging about intellectual property as a sales guy.

Try being an engineer in a specialized military industry. My company knows that Lockheed or Boeing or SpaceX would love to have us, which is why they pay us instead of paying lawyers to trap us.

Eliminating competition is literally anti-free market.

If they want to keep their customers they just need to bootstrap harder

Attached File

When I had finally had enough and walked out, my (former) boss immediately launched damage control and sent reps to meet with all my clients and explain to them why I was "let go"

Without exception,  ALL of my clients followed me when I left. My former employer was out of the business 5 years later

This is my 25th year in business for myself

Amazing, isn't it?

However, this could all be solved by all of these younger generations starting their own businesses, giving "boomer" run businesses (even tho a lot of them are not run by boomers) the finger and showing them how to properly compensate employees for a 32 hour work-week whilst working from home.

I eagerly await the day that that all the whiners "put up or shut up". C'mon boys and girls!! Let's get it done!!

ETA: And being able to move on to the next job, taking their clients with them, without an NDA. See how simple it is? Hell, @pale_pony did it, why don't the rest of you?



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