Non-compete agreements are common in technical contracts, pharmaceutical company contracts, and government contracts, but you should thoroughly understand the restrictive covenants before you willingly sign a contract with non-compete clauses. [5:19 minutes to read]
You could ask politely if you’re required to sign it. Before you sign your employment contract, ask for clarification. Contracts forbidding disclosure of proprietary information may be due to customers’ rights to privacy or information governed by security clearance. Experienced employees probably know what they can disclose and what information is not shared with others.
Cybersecurity
Increased cybersecurity in the 21st century brought fierce scrutiny of data processing and the storage of personal and proprietary information. Pharmaceutical corporations and insurance companies paid multimillion-dollar fines because their data stored on the cloud compromised the patient’s personal information. Customers’ credit card information has fallen into the hands of less scrupulous vendors because employees worked from their home computers. Your employer pays for your training and gives you your medical benefits and paid time off while you’re learning all the nuances of your new job. If the non-compete agreement is reasonable, sign it and strive to do your job to satisfy your employer.
Demonstrate Your Willingness To Learn New Skills
If you’ve worked for the same employer for years and you are suddenly asked to sign a new contract, it could be due to changes in technology, expanding into new international markets, or your employer wants you to learn new skills. Human resource employees initiate required new skills training to meet the demands of the 21st century.
Sixty-five percent of senior management prefer to invest in their current employees rather than hire new employees. Expanding into a new international market requires learning its laws, regulations, and procedures. Most American employers must be GDPR compliant. Signing the new contract benefits you. You could ask for a pay raise to accompany your new responsibilities.
Voluntary Agreements
Voluntary non-compete agreements are contracts simply asking you, the employee, not to work for one of your employer’s competitors if you or they terminate your employment for any reason. Contractual restrictive covenants usually state for six months or a year. From the employer’s perspective, you agree to respect your employer’s goodwill and continue to work for the one who paid for your training rather than leave for the next higher paying job offer.
Consultants
Consultants on government contracts expect the contract to end and frequently work for competitors on their next contract. Though the new contract is in the same geographical area, it’s a different subject matter on an entirely different contract and not a violation of a pre-signed agreement. If consulting firms are competing for the same contract, you know you can only be submitted by one company legally. If you were submitted by Martin Marietta and Lockheed got the contract, your non-compete agreement prohibits you from working for Lockheed. The contract is worth millions of dollars to the firm that staffs it.
Enforceability
Non-compete agreements are entirely prohibited in some states because the agreement is an employer’s attempt to control their employees’ activities. Agreements with more stringent or longer than customary terms are not enforceable in most states. California judges do not enforce the agreements, and California law permits employees to sue employers for unfair competition. If a Florida consulting firm hires you to work on a government contract in California, an attorney in Florida can help you with any confusion between the states.
Florida Law
Florida law declares non-compete agreements that are reasonable in duration, geographic area, and type of business or subject matter enforceable. The agreement usually specifies that any software, products, or procedures you invent as part of your employment with the company belong to the employer. It’s reasonable to expect an employee to not solicit the employer’s clients or customers. By Florida law, legitimate enforceable business interests include:
- Trade secrets
- Proprietary information
- Customers, Patients or Clients
- Business practice or trademark
- Geographic area
- A market sector or trade
- Employee training packages
Refusing To Sign The Agreement
If signing the agreement is a condition of employment and you really want the job, you should probably sign it. Florida employment lawyers will understand all the legal implications of your employer’s contract and can represent you in front of your employer. Your employer is asking you to give up the right to work with whoever you choose and wherever you choose. The agreement gives a business the right to sue employees who damage their company.
Florida Court
Even the Florida court holds the employee’s right to income above the rights of the employer who is perceived to have greater resources than the employee. Agreements spanning two years or more following termination of a contract are generally not enforced in the Florida courts.
Patents and Copyrights
Whether an employee can patent or copyright his or her own invention while working for an employer is worth contesting. If an employee quits or gets fired, the employer may file an injunction to prohibit the employee from sharing trade secrets or take the fruits of his labor with him. An employee who develops a software package to solve a business problem is either stealing trade secrets by taking his invention on his next contract or taking his invention with him. Maybe, the judge will decide the invention belongs to the employer if the employer directly paid for its development. If the software was simply a better way to solve computer problems, the employee can probably take it with him and patent it himself.
Injunctions
An employer who has been damaged tries to enforce the non-compete agreement by filing a temporary injunction against an employee who is believed to have breached his or her contract. Under Federal Rule 65 of Civil Procedure and under Florida rules and statutes, the employer appears ex parte before a judge and states how the employee violated the terms of his contract and gets a temporary injunction against the employee. The court serves the employee with the temporary injunction and orders him to appear before the judge on a date within 14 days of issuance. The judge either grants a permanent restraining order to force the employee to stop his damaging behavior or denies the petitioner’s motion deciding the employer has insufficient proof. Whether the employer gets the permanent injunction may depend on the judge’s perception of the amount of harm done.
Business Attorney In St. Pete Florida
Non-compete attorneys in St Pete Florida understand and can explain the agreement that you are asked to sign and represent you in court if your employer serves you with an injunction for breach of your contract.
