A non-compete clause in an employee contract is legal, even in California, where there is a law against non-compete obligations as long as the terms are reasonable. A non-interference agreement essentially states that an employee agrees not to disrupt, damage, harm or disrupt the activities of his or her former employer. A non-compete obligation may limit your ability to work after your employment ends. When you sign the agreement, you waive the right to work or start a competing business. In exchange for your promise, your employer must give you something valuable. Otherwise, the contract is unenforceable. While agreements don`t stop you from competing with your former employer, there are still some (very important) things to keep in mind. Namely: Are you using your employer`s intellectual property without their consent? If so, it is in your best interest to stop right away. In contract law, a non-compete obligation (often NCC) or a non-compete obligation (NCC) is a clause under which a party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter or commence a similar profession or to act in competition with another party (usually the employer). Some courts refer to them as „restrictive agreements.“ Before determining if you can compete with your former employer, it`s important to understand the different agreements that may apply. An employment contract is a document that a new employee signs at the beginning of their new job. The employment contract contains all the details of the employment, such as .B. the title of the new employee, salary or fees, type of employment, schedule and location, applicable bonus structure, etc.

Employment contracts may also include a clause stipulating that the employee may not compete with the employer during his employment or after his departure for a certain period of time and in a certain geographical area. This is called a non-compete obligation. The two men co-opted Massih to delete TSI`s backup hard drives that contained sensitive information, including personal data for TSI`s thousands of investors. Through an office rented by Richard Taylor, a commercial real estate agent they recruited, they met a foreign TSI commercial agent (who was under contract with a TSI subsidiary) and a foreign investor. — Do you have access to sensitive information such as trade secrets, customer lists, marketing plans and financial information? If so, it doesn`t matter if you`ve signed a confidentiality agreement or not. You are prohibited from using or disclosing this information after leaving your employment relationship, as long as this information remains confidential. Also, don`t use your employer`s intellectual property, such as . B a trademark or copyrighted material. If you do, the employer has important recourse against you; Through his work, Michael met and befriended Robert, who founded a company that sold marking tools to Michael`s employer. Michael began to favor Robert`s company with orders; The volume of these orders increased from $12,500 a year earlier to $81,000 over the next 14 months.

In addition, Michael began ordering samples and models from a second company, which was also owned by Robert. Of course, the first thing to consider is whether you have signed a restrictive clause or agreement. If so, the answer is clear: you can`t compete with your employer. But that didn`t stop them from starting a company with the same name as the trade name and logo used by TSI for a new company. They also opened a bank account in the branch used by TSI, copied their business forms and advertisements containing copyrighted TSI material, and even deleted some of TSI`s paper and electronic files to cover their tracks. I. Can I compete with my employer after giving my two-week notice or after receiving notice? Employees owe their employers an „implicit duty of loyalty“. This duty of loyalty prohibits you from competing with your current employer for the duration of the employment, including the last two weeks. Even if the obligation is not provided for in a written employment contract, it still exists. This means you can`t run a competing business, whether it`s a job or in your spare time.

You may be exempted from the duty of loyalty if your employer significantly violates your employment contract, for example. B by not paying your salary. This is debatable, and it would be safer to end the employment relationship before competition. Almost all employees are free to leave their employer and work for a competitor. This happens every day, usually without controversy. However, if you conflict with your obligations to your former employer, you and your new employer can be sued. If you belong to one of these categories, you can leave your employer, but you may be prevented from working for a competitor (which involves starting a new business with the intention of competing). For senior executives, this may not be such a significant hurdle, as they could take on leadership positions in other companies. Even if you don`t belong to one of these categories, if you opt for someone who does, you can be fixed with the same obligations as that person. Now that we`ve discussed what the documents are, the question remains: can you compete with your former employer? Here are a few things to keep in mind. Clarence was the shop manager of a company that manufactured equipment to secure loads on truck trailers.

His wife Hilda was an office manager at the same company. Clarence and Hilda became self-employed and requested orders from many of their former employer`s clients. In a lawsuit filed by the former employer, the court issued an injunction prohibiting the two contractors from using the confidential customer list to solicit customers. The former employer convinced the court that he had spent a lot of time, energy and money traveling across the country to create a list of creditworthy customers. The list described special financial considerations that apply to clients. The key to a trade secret is secrecy. Courts often consider what an employer has done to maintain the secrecy of information and to maintain its confidentiality. III.

Recruitment of former clients. Chapter 19.108 RCW generally prohibits you from attracting your former employer`s customers or the list of potential customers. This is true even if your employment contract has never addressed the issue, a result that may seem surprising and unfair to you. Customer lists examine protected „trade secrets.“ This is true whether you actually kept a written customer list or simply remembered it, and it doesn`t matter if you or someone else in your former employer`s business was the primary point of contact or the first point of contact for customers. In this guide, we`ll go over the things to consider when deciding whether or not you can safely compete with your former employer. Please note that nothing in this document constitutes legal advice and that everything found here should be considered for informational purposes only. Then Michael and Robert started their own company. A few months later, Michael quit his job and, through the new company, began producing and selling equipment for hot stamp decoration – competing with his former employer.

Even if you haven`t signed a non-compete agreement, using your employer`s confidential information is not only unpleasant, but could also be illegal. For this reason, you should avoid using anything you know your employer would have considered confidential for their business. From 2020, new legislation is likely to change this. As of January 1, 2020, the employer will automatically be liable for all blue pencil paraphrases of a non-compete provision for at least $5,000 in damages (or more damages if the employee can prove them) plus the employee`s attorneys` fees and costs for enforcement proceedings. Presumably, employers will begin drafting much less restrictive non-compete clauses to avoid these financial penalties. 4. Affected by Chapter 49.62 RCW. Starting in 2020, employers (or former employers) will no longer be able to enforce non-compete obligations in the following situations: And unless Parliament has acted explicitly, the courts may refuse to apply unfair restrictions. Courts recognize that restrictive agreements are generally motivated by the employer`s desire to protect sensitive business information.

But because these alliances tend to restrict trade, the courts scrutinize them closely. Last point to remember: Never steal your former employer`s intellectual property. Even if you haven`t signed an agreement prohibiting you from competing, using your former employer`s intellectual property is a big „no-no.“ One type of evidence that your former employer could present in court is a written agreement in which you agree not to share certain information with others or to use it in competition with the employer. .