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Non-compete
- Thread starter jocooper
- Start date
Yes. They likely do not want you performing work for any company that could directly (or indirectly) take business from them.
Why would you think they wouldn't need a non-compete for you, their ONLY IT guy? Isn't it far more logical that they'd want to protect their asset MORE because you are the only one?
D
Deleted member 65081
Guest
Certainly not uncommon. Obviously in your case you are likely to have access to all the company records including customers and billing amounts (being the only IT staff).
What state is this in, and how long have you been with the company?
What state is this in, and how long have you been with the company?
Dyslexic_Dog
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2005
- Messages
- 260
Most of the time Non-compete's will not hold up in court. If it came down to that but most likely it won't.
BillLeeLee
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2003
- Messages
- 13,486
My company made me sign a noncompete, and when we got bought, I had to sign a new noncompete for the new overlord. The noncompete at my company is for everyone, but it's probably not really important for most people of the company except for certain types of employees, mainly salespeople and some developers.
It isn't recommended by me, but I'm going to suggest it--why not ask them what you get in return for signing the form? They might say "You get to keep your job" but then tell them, "Yes, but I'm giving some rights up in exchange for keeping my job, which doesn't seem very fair." Could work it in to a stealth raise... but VERY low odds of success and a far greater chance that someone in HR is going to think "Yeah, he's doing something wrong, not good."
A possible alternative is to go to HR and ask why you have been asked to sign this form several years after starting employment. They'll have the canned answer (which will sound something like "we identified a legal obligation that was not being met" or "our lawyers feel it is in the best interest of the company to ensure that all employees understand the dangers of working with our competitors" or something equally inane) and you can then ask, "Ok, but how does that pertain to me?" See what they say and you also get to ask them "Do I get fired if I do not fill out this form?" As a possible alternative question you could ask, "Is there a form I can sign that states I will not fill out this form, so your requirement is met and I do not have to sign a form I am uncomfortable with?"
Anywho, all of this still isn't recommended, but if you do try it I'm curious how it turns out.
BillLeeLee
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2003
- Messages
- 13,486
It is strange they gave it to you now. I got the noncompetes when I first joined my company, and if I didn't agree with their policies, then I wouldn't get the job. I know there were sales people who vehemently refused to sign the noncompete of our new owning company because of the strict wording.
You should probably ask why they took this long to give you a noncompete document to read and sign.
You should probably ask why they took this long to give you a noncompete document to read and sign.
D
Deleted member 12930
Guest
I would just ask the HR person why you're getting asked to sign it now, and not when you first came on board in the company. If the terms of the non-compete are redicilous (can't do business in the same town for instance), then I would make issue with it. But if the terms say you basically won't steal a client of theirs, and that's it, then I wouldn't be worried.
I used to refuse to sign non-compete agreements on principle - which cost me a good long-term job once. Now that I'm in management they don't bother me.
A company is only likely to undergo the legal expense of attempting to enforce a non-compete agreement if you are in sales and take your rolodex with you to a direct competitor and immediately start trying to steal customers. Or if you happen to be deeply entangled in a lot of proprietary trade secrets - scientific research job categories, for example. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it.
A company is only likely to undergo the legal expense of attempting to enforce a non-compete agreement if you are in sales and take your rolodex with you to a direct competitor and immediately start trying to steal customers. Or if you happen to be deeply entangled in a lot of proprietary trade secrets - scientific research job categories, for example. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it.
D
Deleted member 12930
Guest
I second qualms advice.
IANAL, but I believe you are under no obligation to sign it now seeing as how you are already in contract to work for them.
If this is something that concerns you, then I would suggest seeking legal advice; otherwise I wouldn't worry about it (. I certainly didn't with my employment).
That's not necessarily true. I know of a couple developers who were just sued by their former employer. Their former employer suddenly decided their new employer was a "competitor" - and slapped a lawsuit on them.
Non-competes suck. I understand companies want to protect themselves, but wouldn't a lawsuit over corporate espionage or theft of IP be enough? It's slimy to throw a contact at someone that affects their ability to support themselves.
D
Deleted member 65081
Guest
The reason I asked earlier what state you were in and how long you have been employed were for many of the reasons discussed above. Keep in mind, IAMAL, but do follow this stuff because I am a employee rights geek, not particularly by choice.
In a lot of states there are precedents for non-competes not holding up in a court unless signed before employment or after an initial probation period has been completed. This is because an employer has all the leverage in a situation where the employee is already established in the company. The way companies usually get around this is by offering some additional compensation for sign the agreement, which it doesn't sound like you are being offered.
Depending upon the wording of it, it's pretty unlikely to impact you negatively given your position in the company, so you could probably just shrug it off and sign it- knowing it's mostly meaningless anyhow. But do seek legal advice if the wording is iffy in any way.
Reasons for having you sign it could be numerous. Maybe it's just a new company policy to have all employee's have a non-compete on file, regardless of their position (I have seen janitors with non-competes in their employee file). It could indeed be because they are going to can you, and are attempting to cover their ass- if you are the sole IT staff, I can only imagine the access you have to all company data. If it's anything like the company I work for, they may have a firm working for them that loves to give the owner idea's of how to waste money by making their team of lawyers do a bunch of busy work
Best of luck with the situation though. From what you describe, it smells at least a little fishy!
In a lot of states there are precedents for non-competes not holding up in a court unless signed before employment or after an initial probation period has been completed. This is because an employer has all the leverage in a situation where the employee is already established in the company. The way companies usually get around this is by offering some additional compensation for sign the agreement, which it doesn't sound like you are being offered.
Depending upon the wording of it, it's pretty unlikely to impact you negatively given your position in the company, so you could probably just shrug it off and sign it- knowing it's mostly meaningless anyhow. But do seek legal advice if the wording is iffy in any way.
Reasons for having you sign it could be numerous. Maybe it's just a new company policy to have all employee's have a non-compete on file, regardless of their position (I have seen janitors with non-competes in their employee file). It could indeed be because they are going to can you, and are attempting to cover their ass- if you are the sole IT staff, I can only imagine the access you have to all company data. If it's anything like the company I work for, they may have a firm working for them that loves to give the owner idea's of how to waste money by making their team of lawyers do a bunch of busy work
Best of luck with the situation though. From what you describe, it smells at least a little fishy!
CmdrTallen
n00b
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2007
- Messages
- 53
I had a similar situation, in my case the owner got a new lawyer who was doing due diligence and reviewing basic legalities and discovered that the dev team did not have signed Non-Competes on a commercially sold software suite - that we had been selling for nearly two years.
Just trying to point out, its not always negative towards the employee - in this case it was simply a incompetent previous legal consultant.
