When Given the Opportunity to Revise Work Contracts?

smurfeater asks: "I know this topic has come up in the past, but with the IT market as it is, it may be a good time to review. I have been working at my firm for over a year now and today they came to me with a Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreement. To make a long story short...due to their SNAFU they are allowing us to modify the agreement a bit. What things should we ask to be included, excluded and what time frame should it cover?"

Comments

Now would be a good time to hire a lawyer

[darthwader]

If you really care about what's in the agreement, then I respectfully suggest that slashdot isn't the best place to get legal advice.
I would either sign it if I didn't care, or spend a hundred bucks talking to a lawyer about exactly what should be (and shouldn't be) in the contract before I signed it.
Yes, it's expensive. But the free advice you get from slashdot is probably worth every penny you're paying for it.
Try to find a lawyer who specializes in employment law, of course.

Better idea

[unterderbrucke]

Lay down and take what's handed to you.
You don't want them to give you an excuse to fire you in today's economic situation.

Non-Compete

[MrResistor]

I have no problem with a confidentiality agreement, but a Non-Compete clause is pretty onerous, IMO. I understand the reasons behind it, but I think accepting it is basically agreeing to take it you-know-where, especially in the current job market where employers can afford to be extremely picky. In many cases they will only hire people with experience in the particular technology or application they're working on, so it's entirely possible that a Non-Compete clause would make you effectively unhirable if you were to be laid off for whatever reason, something which is also unfortunately likely given the current economic situation.

I think a reasonable compromise would be that the Non-Compete clause should be voided if you are laid off, with maybe some added details like it wouldn't be voided if you were fired for a good reason, like mooning investors or punching your boss or something like that.

That's the thing I would push for, but there may be other things depending on the specific wording of the contract.

That said, I wouldn't have a problem with a straight Non-Compete if the contract also stipulated a severance package that would cover me for the Non-Compete period.

The important thing to remember is that they can't force you to sign the contract. If they say they will fire you if you don't, then that is duress, which will make the contract very easy to get out of if you do sign it, and gives you an opening to sue them if you don't sign it and they fire you.

In short, make sure there's something in it for you, and if you do decide to let them screw you, make sure you are adequately compensated for it.

Re:Non-Compete

[sigwinch]

Keep in mind that the courts have universially held that people have the right to work a job they are qualified for.

Unless they have been satisfactorily rewarded for not working. Which is for the judge to decide after listening to the former employer's $300/hour lawyers.

In otherwords non-competes are the easiest things to break in court.

Thereby squandering thousands of dollars and many hours of your resources. And proving to future employers that (1) you don't care one whit about honoring contracts that you sign--that you are a cowboy who sells out in a heartbeat, and (2) that you don't have the business sense to negotiate a reasonable contract in the first place.