How many of you guys have run into these? I had to sign one for my current job, but I don't think it's all that strict.



How often are they prosecuted if broken?

9/20/2007 3:51:57 PM

i think a lot of people accepting full time jobs in the tech. industry sign one

i'm not sure how you can really measure how often they are prosecuted but at your level i'm fairly certain that they are very rarely be prosecuted unless you start your own company that is a direct competitor or take a position in which your knowledge could help the new company in a way that would adversely effect the old company

9/20/2007 4:24:03 PM

$20,000 fine that a family member of mine has to pay to their soon to be former employer, but this family member is saying "screw it" and going over the non-compete clause because the potential at the new employer far exceeds the weight of the 20K fee.

True story.

Not only that, but it all has to be paid at one time.



[Edited on September 20, 2007 at 4:38 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/20/2007 4:36:55 PM

i had to sign one for my last job... irked me a bit, ultimately we all had to sign them because one of the programmers "stole" some of the code...

actually, he'd just taken it home to work on it, and the owner overreacted... severely...

wouldn't think of violating it, mainly because i have no desire to ever work in that industry again

9/20/2007 5:04:36 PM

I had to sign one for a job that I held last year. When I signed it, my employer made it sound like it wasn't really a big deal and that they didn't really go after people because of it. However, it did prevent me from going to work for their direct competition immediately after the job ended. The company that I worked for didn't keep me from doing it, but my sense of self preservation kept me from doing it because I didn't want any trouble if were an issue.

9/21/2007 1:10:10 PM

I worked for a company that had one, but my next employer told me not to worry about it because her lawyers had told her a non-compete would never hold up in NC anyway.

9/24/2007 5:07:39 PM

non-compete's are effectively worthless in NC as ^ points out. They will not hold up in court.

Other states, YMMV

9/24/2007 6:00:07 PM

^^
non-competes are certainly valid in NC if they are a part of your employment contract...and they can certainly restrict your ability to pick up and go work for the competition if they are valid.

The lawyer Skack speaks of was probably referring to a non-compete agreement in a job that did not require an employment contract be entered into. These jobs are employment at-will in NC - meaning you can leave or be fired at the will of either you or your employer respectively.

9/24/2007 6:11:56 PM

I worked at alltel sometime back and they made me sign one. I guess I can see both sides of the debate with it. It kind of pissed me off a little, but after bitching, they gave me a small raise and I signed it. The way I looked at it, I would never work for another wireless company again. And I haven't.

9/26/2007 10:01:27 AM

I'm signing one for my new job that I start Monday.

10/3/2007 4:26:32 AM

Depends on the restrictions I'd say. Some of them are pretty broad and not really enforcable (ie you can't work for hardly anyone in the same industry for up to a year after you leave), vs. ones that are appropriately scoped and generally don't pose an issue (you may not take the code you worked on here and give it to our competitors. You may not start a buisness doing the exact same thing we do using our stuff, etc etc).

The narrow scope ones I have signed once before and nobody gave a second glance when I later went to work for the direct competitor of the first company. I would NOT sign some of the broader more crazy ones that are out there - but as someone mentioned before I have heard that those in particular are near worthless in NC if you are a hire/fire at will employee.

10/3/2007 10:42:16 AM

^^^I have a coworker that is getting sued over a noncompete. He originally worked for my second job (Verizon Authorized Agent) and then went to work with an Alltel authorized agent. We don't have noncompetes, but that one did. Then he left them and went to work for Alltel themselves and immediately got a lawsuit from his previous company.

I don't know how its going for him, but I do know that this same company that is suing him has another guy that has a strong shot for a wrongful termination suit. He was fucking around with his married boss while she was split from her hubby. Now they are back together and she fired him over some petty shit (she greeted a customer then took a call and went in the back and he did the sale, but she wanted half the commission, and he told her to get fucked). He proved that she had malicious intent because he had pictures of him with this chick in compromising positions and they were so scared he was gonna sue that they put him right back to work and fired her ass.

10/3/2007 2:09:56 PM

They are enforcable in NC under certain conditions, just most employees are not important enough to bring a suit over it.

I handled a case this summer on this issue and it was very much enforced.

10/3/2007 2:21:29 PM