What Activities Are Covered In A Non-Compete Agreement?

Non-compete agreements specify the activities that the employee cannot perform after the employment relationship is over. For example, if someone is a sales associate with an engineering firm, then the activities related to their sales duties should be specified in the non-compete agreement. If that individual decides to go work for another company in human resources or in operations, then the information they were provided while in the sales position would not be helpful or relevant to them in their new position. However, a blanket, industry-wide non-compete agreement would restrict them from taking the new position in human resources or operations. Due to these types of restrictions, courts are becoming increasingly reluctant to enforce industry-wide non-compete agreements.

What Is The Typical Geographic Limitation Of A Non-Compete Agreement?

The geographic limitation of a non-compete agreement is case-dependent, but will generally cover a certain radius from wherever the employee works in order to protect the employer’s consideration in having given that employee their goodwill and in order to protect the customers that they may have. However, it is becoming more common for employees to have larger geographic limitations, especially in sales positions that cover multiple states or a wide geographic area in the US. Under those circumstances, it’s more likely that a court would enforce a larger geographic restriction.

What Components Are Typically Overlooked When Someone Drafts A Non-Compete Agreement On Their Own?

Many employers will search for non-compete agreements on Google, and while they might find one, they won’t necessarily have a clear understanding of the terms within that agreement. Oftentimes, non-compete agreements are confusing, vague, and don’t really provide the protection the employer is seeking. Certainly, those agreements aren’t worth the paper they’re written on and are easy for lawyers to defeat since there was no legal advice given and no lawyer who drafted the agreement.

Some employers are under the misconception that if an employee signs a non-compete agreement, that agreement is automatically enforceable; in reality, if the employer hasn’t provided confidential information that is also protected in that way, then they likely haven’t provided the consideration needed to enforce the agreement.

Can Someone Be Fired For Not Signing A Non-Compete Agreement?

If an at-will employee is presented with a non-compete agreement at the beginning of the relationship or at some point after the relationship has been established, and if they refuse, then the employer certainly has the right to terminate that relationship at any time. We tell both employers and employees that if they were provided consideration or confidential information before signing the non-compete agreement, then they’ll have to be provided with additional confidential information and consideration after they sign the non-compete in order to make it enforceable

For more information on Activities Covered In Non-Compete Agreements, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (281) 277-3066 today.