Crazy Non-Compete Contracts?

JL-b8 asks: "I've just encountered a (from what I know) strange occurrence. A group of friends who work for a small web design firm are being forced to sign a non-compete agreement with a clause that prohibits the employee from working with a competing company for 12 months, after the date of their leaving. The owners claim it's a standardly practiced clause, but I don't see how the hell a web developer/designer is supposed to find work in a city for a year, without moving to a completely different city. I'd like more input as to how this weighs in to the rest of the companies out there. Is this a common thing? If you've signed something like this, and had to switch jobs, how did it affect you?"

Comments

Ask them to pay for it

[khchung]

Add a clause in the agreement that said the company will pay your full salary for the duration of the non-compete agreement, or until you landed another job, whichever is earlier. Tell them that is also "a standard clause for non-compete agreements".

If what you know is so important that the company will suffer if you work for a competitor, it makes sense for the company to pay you for it. That's fair.