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I have been at a 'creative' type job for 3 months now. I was given the non compete early on, read it and refused to sign. It seemed to go away, now it is back. I've seen too much turn over in the short time I at this job, and in 35 years of being in 'creative' fields in NY, was never asked to sign any such agreement. I don't want it to cost me my job, but I do want to sleep nights.
Advise?
How can they make you sign a new contract 3 months into a job? What was the contract term in the initial contract?
I had to sign a non-compete clause for my new job. I needed the job, so I signed it despite not liking non-compete clauses. I would make sure you know exactly what jobs would be off limits. Is it jobs in a specific city or jobs that have the exact same job description? Make sure the restrictions are in the contract so they can't change it. You could always have a lawyer review the contract, although I didn't think the contract lawyer I hired was very useful.
For me, the non-compete clause only prevented me from working at hospitals vying for the same patient population (which is like 3 other hospitals). There are enough hospitals in my area that I could still find another job as long as I was willing to commute just a little longer.
I have been at a 'creative' type job for 3 months now. I was given the non compete early on, read it and refused to sign. It seemed to go away, now it is back. I've seen too much turn over in the short time I at this job, and in 35 years of being in 'creative' fields in NY, was never asked to sign any such agreement. I don't want it to cost me my job, but I do want to sleep nights.
Advise?
I know how you feel, but work is work. Have an attorney look it over and talk to your attorney about it. So when it's given to you this time, say, "Thanks. I will review this and get back with you." Leave it at that. If they say you must sign it now, tell them you need it reviewed by your attorney.
I had worked for a company that didn't have this requirement. And they merged with another company, and that company told me I had to sign one of those. I contacted my attorney and he said, it's likely they will call you into a conference room and force you to sign it or say they will fire you. I stalled and left the job before I actually was forced to signed it.
If I said it needs to be reviewed by my attorney and they said no, you must sign it now, I'd refuse. If they wanted to fire me over it, I would let them do it, because something is very wrong in that company that they want to muscle you like that. Sometimes getting you to do something you don't want to do after fighting with you about it, just shows them you will put up with anything. So next salary review, they are going to tell you they are making a 10% salary cut for people in your position. So if you take that, they know that they "got you" and you will put up with anything.
I feel like this company is paranoid about loosing their 'coveted sources' when in fact in the 3 months I've been there, I have seen no such sources that weren't open to the trade or general public. Signing such an agreement would certainly limit if not shut down my employment elsewhere in the industry.
I might agree to not taking any property, or publishing any work as my own, but not using their 'sources' is definitely a misused term.
Honestly because I've seen so much turnover, and I'm now in a 'senior position', I don't feel good about it at all. They've shown clear evidence how poor they treat their employees. I just happen to be the one theat stuck in there hoping it would work out...more patience I guess.
I feel like this company is paranoid about loosing their 'coveted sources' when in fact in the 3 months I've been there, I have seen no such sources that weren't open to the trade or general public. Signing such an agreement would certainly limit if not shut down my employment elsewhere in the industry.
I might agree to not taking any property, or publishing any work as my own, but not using their 'sources' is definitely a misused term.
Honestly because I've seen so much turnover, and I'm now in a 'senior position', I don't feel good about it at all. They've shown clear evidence how poor they treat their employees. I just happen to be the one theat stuck in there hoping it would work out...more patience I guess.
Hmmm...ask them for something they may not be prepared for. Renegotiate your employment agreement. Say something like, "I'd be happy to sign this, in exchange for one year's severance". This is why you need to talk with an attorney experienced in employment law. Because if they are asking you to do something, in other words, giving up something, they should be willing to offer you something in exchange for it. If they say no, you can leave the company now not having signed this agreement and they could still be "harmed" by what you have been exposed to there.
I don't know your industry so you have to decide, "If I sign this, I would be giving up ______". If you would be giving up being employed in this industry for a period of one year, then then in exchange for that would be a year's severance. If they are requiring you not work for competition, then they need to define who that is and in what exact capacity. For example, if you worked for XYZ and they said "You can't work for ABC", well, that's too broad. If they said you can't work for ABC doing exactly what you were doing now and on the same type of product, that's more limiting you could still work for ABC but in a different job.
This is why an attorney in employment law can really be a big help. I have had attorneys review things before I signed them for these types of circumstances. The cost is low, sometimes just $200.00. But the thing is, it's more than knowing the law, it's knowing what might he acceptable to their management and attorneys who deal with this all the time know. If you never had an attorney review things for you like this, don't worry, a good attorney isn't going to say "Let them do that, we will sue them!". A good attorney helps you avoid messes like that.
Usually the non competes are really tough to enforce as they are directly at odds with you ability to make a living.
You'll need to really look over the non compete and do more research (not here).
We just had another thread on this. Unless they give you a significant monetary compensation for signing it, it has no chance of standing up in court so as I said it is TP.
We just had another thread on this. Unless they give you a significant monetary compensation for signing it, it has no chance of standing up in court so as I said it is TP.
You want to avoid going to court. That's time consuming and costs you money. It doesn't matter if it stands up in court, just having go to court to defend yourself is a major inconvenience.
Check for exists to the clause. It may state that the non-compete is null and void if the company terminates your employment.
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