Non Compete Clauses Make Workers Economic Prisoners Who Must Change Careers..

[TheMastersNemesis]

Even if you have a PHD and have worked where you had to sign a non compete clause you can be prevented from working in the industry you have experience in. Such agreements enforced under trade laws can stop you from working in your field of experience with a future employer. Such agreements include knowledge and experience you brought to the job before you went to work for that employer.

At this point non compete agreements are enforced on a state by state basis. Congress is considering a federal law regarding trade restrictions that would further restrict employees job searches with new employers. The free market only works for companies. For employees you become an economic prisoner. So a PHD might end up at McDonalds because they can no longer work at a job in their field of expertise.

Even though trade protection laws are necessary companies are now restricting even common knowledge under non compete agreements. In one case an employee making sandwiches was non compete restricted. So your employer can stop you from looking for another job in your field and force you to work in an unrelated industry or go back to school for another entirely different field.

MSN news posted this article.

[MANative]

1. From personal experience, they aren't that difficult to defeat...

because they're so broadly and poorly written. Most of the time, the companies only go after senior level execs if they try to use proprietary information, most of whom are nearly always given a golden parachute anyway. The truth is, though, that they use these docs to intimidate people into staying away from competitors. Unfortunately, people without knowledge or resources (read: access to attorneys) don't realize how easy it is to defeat these flimsy "contracts."

(20+ years corporate HR experience speaking.)

[elehhhhna]

2. Headhunter here - you are so right.

In TX & IL they are worthless - unless you take a company's database or something equally illegal and proveable.

[Hestia]

3. Such is the law of the land from the private-equity firms buying up America

and American businesses.

[woo me with science]

4. K&R