Non-Compete Agreement

[SL1]

Any contract involves both signing parties. You should be negotiating for a severance of some kind if you are truly being restricted in what you can do if you or your employer decides to go a different direction.

[Arrowslinger1]

I know a guy personally that got sued and lost. He was fined over $200k. If it doesn’t specify region and if they don’t pay you a good amount of money then it will probably be just a problem you can pay a lawyer to deal with when or if you leave.

[KRB]

I had one and got sued.

I had a good attorney that said we had a strong case and would probably win, but it would cost me 20K to find out.

I settled with ex employer for 7500.00 and walked away , lesson learned. I wont sign another one.

[KRB]

if they require you not to work in your field for two years then you need 2 years of severance added to the contract.

[JSki]

Does compensation have to be given during the non compete term?

Compensation is not a requirement, "consideration" is. Basically each party must provide or do something. The employer's consideration is typically satisfied simply by providing the confidential information.

[famousunknown]

If you really want the job I'd spend a few bucks with a good attorney and have him amend it to where it is fair and reasonable and go from there.

[WTucker]

Compensation is not a requirement, "consideration" is. Basically each party must provide or do something. The employer's consideration is typically satisfied simply by providing the confidential information.

That is mentioned in the agreement. It says something to the effect of once the employee signs the agreement the company will provide confidential information.

[DirtyDave]

I wouldn't sign one in the field I'm in.
I'd see if you could decline to sign and still be hired.
If not, Negotiate it down to more reasonable and more SPECIFIC terms in Time and Geography

[Big Red 82]

This right here.

Texas is a right to work state, so they'll have a hard time holding you to the agreement.
That being said if it's written correctly by a lawyer and they compensate you financially for signing it they can be tough to get out of.

This right here.

[TacticalCowboy]

I wouldn’t sign it

[KyleW]

2 years seems like a long time. In my opinion if they did not give a specific area (certain cities, X amount of miles etc) I don’t see it sticking.

[JonBoy]

Noncompetes are rarely if ever enforced in Texas. As a right to work state they don't hold any water at all. I'm an electrical engineer by trade and have signed a few noncompetes. I've never heard of one enforced...but I've also never violated one either.

[Grayson]

Noncompetes are rarely if ever enforced in Texas. As a right to work state they don't hold any water at all. I'm an electrical engineer by trade and have signed a few noncompetes. I've never heard of one enforced...but I've also never violated one either.

This is not true at all. In fact, due to recent Supreme Court case law they are more enforceable than they used to be.

[grizzman]

A couple of years ago my employer tried to get me to sign one after I had been on the job for several years. I had an attorney look at it and he suggested several modifications. I spoke to my bosses about it and the subject was dropped. It may come up again at some point, but it hasn't for the last two years.

[KRB]

Do not listen to these folks that say its not valid or wont hold up, they are wrong