@ Strantor , The Comforts Inn hotel chain has a ad on national T.V. ( Paid to Travel for Work).

Either ahead or behind my time ,so people must be moving around for the the part time jobs.

I read that the Jimmy John sandwich chain has employees to sign a employment agreement,

which stated that they will not leave for another sandwich or pizza job......also included tacos and

other shape sandwiches of all kinds. (Google it)

 

...I read that the Jimmy John sandwich chain has employees to sign a employment agreement, which stated that they will not leave for another sandwich or pizza job...

Wow. A non-compete sandwich making clause. Times are tough.

 

Yeah I'm currently bound from a non compete from my previous employer. I hope more fast food restaurants draft up non competes. And retail sales, janitorial services, auto mechanics, cable and satellite installers, everybody everywhere. So many non competes that nobody can keep up, and nobody can enforce. I hope non competes go vogue, like the word "awesome" - which no longer means anything at all due to overuse.

They say I can't get paid to travel for a few more months, funny. Maybe I'll go apply at Jimmy Johns and then Taco Bell, on purpose; just to illustrate to the world the failed concept. That is, if I could get the world to pay attention; not much luck with that in the past. The world has the attention span of a hamster.

 

I had a non-compete clause, that the lawyers drafted incorrectly. It said at the end of my employment, the clause TERMINATED. Just when most clauses are in effect.

 

Ha, California will do almost nothing to help companies enforce non-competes. The reason that companies both love and hate working in the state. Electronics companies and military contractors search and hire from their competitors all the time. Other states, less easy. A few states, you may as well change industries for a while. Not sure of sandwich companies and the technology that could be lost - it could destroy an industry.

 

The non-compete clause is stupid.

In the sandwich industry ...
You were very young when you made your first sandwich in the various forms as described by the JJ's non-compete disclosure. You had prior knowledge working with those containers. You might have stuffed meat in those containers as well prior to JJ.

The intent of the non-compete clause is protecting trade secrets. Are they really secrets if you had a clue prior to joining a company?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause
http://www.quintcareers.com/non-compete_clauses.html

Stantor, Check the wiki link's references with respect to Texas non-compete clauses and http://www.texasnoncompetelaw.com/articles/noncompete-agreements/

and if you want to know more about enforcements ... look at this three part series ...
http://northtexaslegalnews.com/2013...rcing-non-compete-agreements-in-texas-part-i/

 

@JoeJester,
I have pretty strong feelings about it, so I will try to resist the urge of letting this discussion suck me in and ruin my day...

I have read those links and several more; I know more about Texas non-competes than I ever wanted to know. After reading all that and still being unsure, I took my non-compete to my attorney (a particularly good (and expensive) one), and he dissected it looking for weak links. He found nothing. He said that they have the "consideration" (meager as it may be) and everything else they need to hang me, should they choose to do so. He said that this particular non-compete is not some vaguely worded generic document that someone pulled from an internet template; he said it was a modern document with all the right legalese and obviously written by a competent and informed attorney, and tailored exactly to my position. His closing words were "It's obvious that someone paid a lot of money to have this document created, and given the level of dedication put into it, you can bet heavily that they have every intention of enforcing it. If you choose to violate it and you get caught, you will spend a lot of money defending yourself, and in the end you will most likely lose and end up owing them even more."

Disheartened, I looked for a second opinion. I contacted several of the area attorneys who specialize in non-competes. Over and over, same experience; I contact them, they seem eager to help; plenty of phone and email correspondence in the beginning. Then, I send the signed document for their review, and the correspondence suddenly comes to a halt. No more returned emails, and nothing but missed calls and voice mails. Not a good sign.

It's not the end of the world though. One of the reasons my attorney gave that the agreement is strong, is that it's not unreasonable per what is currently considered reasonable. He said if it were 10 years long, he could fight it, but it's only 1 year. 1 year and I'm half-way done. Just biding my time.

He said next time someone puts a non-compete in front of me, to bring it to him. He can revise/edit it, and I bring it back and present the changes, kind of like a counter-offer to a letter of employment. I had no idea you can do that, and he said most people don't either, including the prospective new employer. He said often, they don't understand the changes (which negate all or most of the agreement), and just sign the thing.

It's been a good learning experience and not a mistake I will make again. No thank you, Jimmy John's.

 

Strantor,

Some are written overly broad, but it seems your was the exception.

I can see protecting trade secrets, client lists, plans, unique processes etc.

 

When I was in Pennsylvania, we were told there were three criteria for an enforceable non-compete, assuming the state allowed such contracts:
1) There has to be a legitimate business purpose. Business secrets are a common one. Taking clients (e.g., attorneys, physicians, investment advisors) or recouping training expenses are other examples.
2) The geographical area for which competition is proscribed has to be reasonable and limited. A non-compete for a pediatrician in Harrisburg would simply not be enforceable in Oklahoma City. For some jobs, that area might be quite large, but for most employees, it is measured in 10's of miles, not 1000's.
3) The period of non-compete has to be reasonable. One or two years is common. Ten years would be a bit extreme for any job I can think of.

It sounds like strantor's contract met those criteria. To the extent that some such contracts are written overly broad, I agree with Joe Jester. But in my experience, most non-competes are pretty carefully written to adhere to the three criteria just listed. Some contracts, such as for attorneys and physicians, will include provision for liquidation damages or another term that means the same. That is, the employee or his future employer can buy out of the non-compete. For advisors, a list of client names may be provided who cannot be recruited for, say, 2 years.

John

 

I knew of a group of specialist doctors that decided to have the front end managed. As the partnership grew ,there came a time

when the doctors felt the management was costing too much ,so being the macho doctor that every one bowed too.....he told the

management we need to go in a different direction.The doctor started to lay out terms of how things would be in the future.

The manager told the doctor to read the contract he had signed many years before the practice started making millions of dollars.

The doctor was surprised at how little power he had under the contract ,the practice stayed together until the doctors renewal

of contract came due....just as the manager had planned it , he retired...... READ THE FINE PRINT

 

Nurse training....retraining to protect them from disease.......that should have come first before going to work in hospital.

Look at all the patients that die from being exposed to disease in the hospital. I'm not saying all but too many nurses don't

live up to there duty as a nurse. Too start....just wash there hands and handle patients with care. The flesh eating disease

is a good example.

 

Once in my career I was asked to sign an extended non-compete, as I remember it was well over one year, perhaps 3 to 5 years in length I was supposed to not work in my field of expertise. Of course there was no compensation for this period of inactivity. I had been with the firm for several years at this point and the CEO was looking to bring in some capital (unsure if venture or conventional banking) and the lender was insisting that "senior management" sign this.

Heck, I was just a worker bee engineer there, in no way management. I simply (but politely) refused to sign. The CEO came to my office first to request, then to heatedly demand I sign. I stayed cool but kept to my position: this plainly states I cannot work but receive no compensation, and I cannot sign such an agreement. He countered "no one can keep you from working" and was astounded that I would keep insisting he read what he wanted me to sign.

Eventually he left my office. I never heard about this again.

 

Nobody saw the ad on T.V.........amazing.

 

Seems like there is nothing good on TV but the ad's.

 

Seems like there is nothing good on TV but the ad's.

Ain't that the truth!!!

 

Not only that I didn't see it on TV, it's not on youtube either.

 

Here is Huffington Post on the subject:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/21/jimmy-johns-noncompete-ag_n_6024056.html

Note the finding of no business interest in the comments. While looking for that, I came up with a case in California (of course) filed by an unhappy client who didn't get her alfalfa sprouts. She got $5000 and JJ is on the hook for much more. Who would ever have thought...

https://www.jimmyjohns.com/uploaded...ice_of_Proposed_Settlement_with_dates_JJF.pdf

One thing thing I find startling about fast food places is how many customers are typically served in a day. A small screw up can easily affect several thousand people.

John