Anyone remember if we signed a non-compete when we got hired here? I've been here a long time and can't remember, nor have the time to chase down the policy in the trove of DEI documentation in our HR portal...
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The only way I’m going to honor a non-compete is if they pay me a full salary during all of its validity. That’s what all the elite class get, they get “gardening leave”
I know from experience that non competes are not enforceable if you live in California. However, you are bound by confidentiality agreement: customer lists, any company docs...do not download anything before you leave. Take no hardcopies. Provide a written inventory of all items you are leaving; get it signed if possible, keep copy of inventory doc.
I don't think non-competes are enforceable.
It depends on the state as to whether it is enforceable. Where it is enforceable the company has to make a choice as to what it will cost to litigate versus what loss they risk by having you working at a competitor. Doing this also risks bad publicity when it comes to attracting new talent.
It's the mirror of employees trying to enforce restrictions on age discrimination. You can try to do it, but you may end up spending a fortune to get little to nothing in return, and any suit against a previous employer will show up in a background check when applying for a new job. If you have a common name like "John Smith" it could show up on every "John Smith's" background check in your area.
I don't recall any non-compete agreement(s).
I do recall that I signed NDA's to protect Cisco's intellectual properties and to agree to arbitration instead of suing the company.
I had a company back in 1999 force me to sign a non-compete agreement on the first day of work after accepting the new job and giving my notice at my old job which I thought was pretty sh1tty given it wasn't mentioned as a requirement to accept the job during the interview process. It basically said I agreed to not work for their competitors or their customers for something like 2 or 3 yrs. When they laid me off, they had a copy of that form I signed to "remind me" of the agreement. I told them to shove it and that I was taking the first job offer I was given regardless of who the company was because I didn't have any knowledge of their intellectual properties because I was just an IT server admin and everything I did for them was just industry best practices that are in use with any tech company and they could try to sue me if they wanted to.
I never heard back from them and I certainly stayed within their "field" of telecommunications as I was living in D/FW TX at the time and all the companies were "Ma-Bell" related: AT&T, Nokia, Lucent, Erickson, etc.
I don't think non-competes are enforceable. I like that Cisco has you sign an NDA instead so that if you try to use Cisco processes somewhere else they have a way to get at you, but industry best practices and working in the same field are not blocked.
How can you have nocompete in layoff contract, that’s illegal.
It depends on the state. The first Google result I found on the topic was this:
https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2023/07/states-penalties-non-compete-law-violations/
When you submit your resignation you'll be asked why you're leaving. If you state you're going to a competitor your last day will be made immediate vs. your 2+ weeks notice.
How can you have nocompete in layoff contract, that’s illegal.
Non compete is not enforceable for the most part. That’s why you see people moving from Cisco to Palo Alto and vice versa. Not a big deal.