Noncompete Clauses: Signing Away the Right to Get a New Job
Worth remembering, especially for those just entering the software field: by the time a potential employer gives you an employment agreement to sign, they&#x27;ve already decided they want you. At that point, it&#x27;s on them to give you a palatable offer. They may include a noncompete clause for one of two reasons: 1) to prevent you from working somewhere else at the same time, which can create all sorts of conflicts of interest, or 2) because it&#x27;ll keep you from looking for a new job, and they think you&#x27;re too naive to argue.<p>Here&#x27;s my suggestion. When you receive the document, read it and see if there&#x27;s a noncompete clause. If so, you&#x27;re going to want to send a redlined version back to them, changing the noncompete duration from &quot;during and for 2 years following employment at the company&quot; (or whatever they gave you) to &quot;for the duration of employment at the company.&quot; By doing so, you show your willingness not to do any kind of work for a competitor while employed, while very clearly pointing out that you do have the right to get a new job. It may be important not to offend the person who wrote up the agreement and included something so ridiculous, so the minor nature of your modification will allow them to save face.<p>In the end, most employers won&#x27;t bother to argue the second point, and the ones that do are probably shadily taking advantage of you in other ways.<p>Additional note: in California and several other states, these clauses are not legally enforceable anyway, and you should mention that when you give them the &quot;fixed&quot; agreement.