Non Compete Agreements - The New American Slavery? (unemployment, wage, legal)
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Noncompete agreements are spreading beyond the high-tech and sales fields to professions such as hair stylists, camp counselors, yoga instructors and exterminators.
As noncompete clauses proliferate, at least one lawyer has seen an increase in litigation to enforce the agreements, the New York Times reports. “Companies are spending money, hiring lawyers, to go after people—just to put the fear of death in them,” Manhattan employment lawyer Wendi Lazar told the newspaper.
A hair salon in Norwell, Mass., obtained an injunction requiring hairstylist Daniel McKinnon to stop working at a nearby salon because he had signed a noncompete that barred him from working at any salon in nearby towns for one year.
After the ruling, McKinnon survived for a year on unemployment benefits of $300 a week. “It was pretty lousy that you would take away someone’s livelihood like that,” he told the Times. “I almost lost my truck. I almost lost my apartment. Almost everything came sweeping out from under me.”
A proposed bill in Massachusetts aims to change the situation for employees like McKinnon. The bill, which passed a House committee, would ban most noncompetes while including restrictions to help protect the loss of trade secrets when employees change jobs.
Currently only California and North Dakota ban noncompete clauses, the story says. Courts in most states won’t enforce the deals, however, unless there is a legitimate business reason for the agreement, it is narrowly tailored, and it is reasonable in scope and duration.
Say what? Camp counselors? Hairdressers? Exterminators?
I say this is nothing other than an attempt by businesses to create a new form of serfdom, where employees become thralls to the new corporate barons.
What makes me think this trend started with an article in Inc Magazine?
I'm particularly interested in hearing from right wingers who kneel in adoration of free market capitalism, and so defend businesses at every opportunity.
Non compete agreements have been around for decades. Its not something new.
Just because you are only now learning of them doesn't make them new.
It makes sense that if someone is going to take the time to train someone that they want to make sure the trainee doesn't just up and leave once trained to work or compete against them.
The idea may be spreading as I don't know every instance but they have long been used in the hair care and landscaping industry.
Non compete agreements have been around for decades. Its not something new.
Just because you are only now learning of them doesn't make them new.
It makes sense that if someone is going to take the time to train someone that they want to make sure the trainee doesn't just up and leave once trained to work or compete against them.
The idea may be spreading as I don't know every instance but they have long been used in the hair care and landscaping industry.
I think the later is the problem, not the former. We've known of no-competes in some professions, now it is more and more often in places where maybe it shouldn't be. Should a cashier be barred from being a cashier elsewhere when that is their experience?
I think the later is the problem, not the former. We've known of no-competes in some professions, now it is more and more often in places where maybe it shouldn't be. Should a cashier be barred from being a cashier elsewhere when that is their experience?
I think the later is the problem, not the former. We've known of no-competes in some professions, now it is more and more often in places where maybe it shouldn't be. Should a cashier be barred from being a cashier elsewhere when that is their experience?
Cashiering is a non skilled job and there's no trade secrets about tapping buttons on a register.
Non-compete is clearly defined in the paperwork you sign when offered a job.
Reading is fundamental and very few Americans do that anymore.
They sign away their lives and they cry foul when what they signed comes back to bite them.
Understand the use of non-compete before going off saying min wage cashiers could get caught up in this.
the original intent of non compete agreements was to prevent someone from opening a similar business right next door to where they started, and poaching the customers. they were also designed to prevent someone from working in say the aerospace industry for boeing, and then moving to say general dynamics to work on similar projects and taking boeing trade secrets with them.
but i also agree that for the most part non compete agreements need to be either banned, or severely restricted so that people dont lose their lively hood because they decided to change employers.
Non-competes vary from being just irritating to a serious hindrance to finding employment. The laws vary from state to state. But I think that the non-compete restrictions placed upon a person can be legally defended if the person received something from the employer as part of the agreement. It could be equity, severance, etc. If the employer offers nothing then I understand it is difficult to enforce.
Confidentiality of trade secrets is a completely separate issue though it is often grouped with non-competes. It is reasonable and legal to require that a person not divulge trade secrets with a future employer.
A non-compete in hair care is all about taking customers - so this is no different than the non-competes placed on sales people.
Noncompete agreements are spreading beyond the high-tech and sales fields to professions such as hair stylists, camp counselors, yoga instructors and exterminators.
As noncompete clauses proliferate, at least one lawyer has seen an increase in litigation to enforce the agreements, the New York Times reports. “Companies are spending money, hiring lawyers, to go after people—just to put the fear of death in them,” Manhattan employment lawyer Wendi Lazar told the newspaper.
A hair salon in Norwell, Mass., obtained an injunction requiring hairstylist Daniel McKinnon to stop working at a nearby salon because he had signed a noncompete that barred him from working at any salon in nearby towns for one year.
After the ruling, McKinnon survived for a year on unemployment benefits of $300 a week. “It was pretty lousy that you would take away someone’s livelihood like that,” he told the Times. “I almost lost my truck. I almost lost my apartment. Almost everything came sweeping out from under me.”
A proposed bill in Massachusetts aims to change the situation for employees like McKinnon. The bill, which passed a House committee, would ban most noncompetes while including restrictions to help protect the loss of trade secrets when employees change jobs.
Currently only California and North Dakota ban noncompete clauses, the story says. Courts in most states won’t enforce the deals, however, unless there is a legitimate business reason for the agreement, it is narrowly tailored, and it is reasonable in scope and duration.
Say what? Camp counselors? Hairdressers? Exterminators?
I say this is nothing other than an attempt by businesses to create a new form of serfdom, where employees become thralls to the new corporate barons.
What makes me think this trend started with an article in Inc Magazine?
I'm particularly interested in hearing from right wingers who kneel in adoration of free market capitalism, and so defend businesses at every opportunity.
It is not anything new.
I work in the building trades and it is not uncommon if you read a sub-contract agreement, with a retail store for installed labor. Cabinets, Painting, Flooring, Landscaping read it really good, because there maybe a no compete clause. Meaning you are their employee, you cannot go and install anything in that town or you are competing with them, but they are going to call you a subcontractor to skate all liability.
They will tell you, the so called contractor, sub-contracting, What, When, Where, How and tell you what to use. They will control every aspect of your business.
No compete clauses are out there. The companies Home Depot & Lowe's use for their installations, have all their subcontractors sign a no compete clause.
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