MA Gov. Wants To Ban Non-Competes; Will It Matter? 97
curtwoodward (2147628) writes "Entrepreneurs in Massachusetts say the state's legal enforcement of non-competition agreements hurts innovation — if you're going to get sued by Big Company X, you're probably not going to leave for a startup in the same industry. But those contracts have powerful supporters, including EMC, which is by far the state's largest tech company. Gov. Deval Patrick is finally picking a side in the debate by introducing his own bill to outlaw non-competes and adopt trade-secrets protections instead. Just one catch: he's a lame duck, and will be out of office in January."
My non-compete agreement (Score:4, Interesting)
You want me to sign a non-compete? Ok, then sign mine:
You, the employer, agree not to hire any person to fill my position (or other open positions which have substantially similar responsibilities and skill requirements) when I leave the company.
Re:Uhm... since when are non-competes a bad thing? (Score:4, Interesting)
You don't work in the tech industry I take it. I've yet to see a non-compete that offered three years of compensation (typical blackout period that I've seen).
Even if companies did offer three years of compensation, by the time you got to the end of that three years, you would be three years out of date and three years out of a job, and would be lucky to get a job for half of what you were getting paid previously. This is not fair to the employee either. The company would have to compensate you for the three years plus COLA, plus typical raises and bonuses that you got for three years and then continue to pay you at half that rate plus COLA, raises and bonuses for the remainder of your professional career. Or, perhaps they could take the quick way out and just offer you a one time cash settlement. $2 million ought to be reasonable for a typical $100,000 job.