Free Pdf Non Compete Agreement [2021]
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In Texas, a non-compete agreement is a way for companies to prevent their employees from disclosing their trade secrets and other legitimate business interests to their competitors. Non-competition agreements give Texas employers a written employment agreement that their employees will not leak sensitive information once their employment comes to an end.
These agreements often prohibit the employee from working with a competing company for a certain period of time, working within a certain scope of activity, and similar companies within a certain geographic area. If the employee is found to have broken the agreement, they may be held liable if the former employer decides to sue. While a non-compete agreement may stand on its own as a contract, an employment contract may also have a non-compete clause or a restrictive covenant in it.
To ensure the enforceability of non-compete agreements, Texas business owners should seek legal advice from a law firm that practices employment law. Texas law is very specific about the use of these agreements. Enforceability of non-competes in Texas courts comes down to many factors such as geographical area, providing sufficient consideration to the former employee, and other reasonable limitations when having the document signed before the new job is started. An employment lawyer can help ensure that the non-compete agreement is enforceable and answer any questions the Texas business owner has about the entire process.
In Texas, non-compete agreements protect trade secrets, confidential or proprietary information, goodwill, and special training or knowledge acquired during employment. Texas clarifies that non-compete agreements must be fair in their drafting, and not impose greater than necessary harm to the employee in its restrictions. Furthermore, these agreements must be implemented at the time of employment.
A non-compete agreement is a legal document stipulating that one party will not compete in the same industry or geographical area with another party. Often, this agreement is signed at the time a company hires an employee. It can also be used between companies and vendors, freelancers, and entered into after an employee has already worked with the company for any amount of time.
This agreement goes into effect once the employee or contractor severs ties with the company. There are a few ways that a company can draw up non-compete agreements and a few scenarios in which they would be useful.
In July 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order encouraging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban or limit non-compete agreements. It is a small part of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy that focuses on increasing innovation and economic growth in the USA.
Traditionally, non-compete agreements were created for high-ranking employees and those with specialized knowledge of your business. More and more, companies are using them for a larger swath of their staff. Often new hires will need to sign one in order to secure the position.
For instance, Illinois recently passed the Illinois Freedom to Work Act which prohibits companies from enforcing non-compete agreements with low-wage employees. The state of Illinois reasons that these agreements were created in order to protect companies from theft of intellectual property and relationships particular to high-ranking staff members. Using the same agreement with low-wage staff members imposes undue hardships on the employee.
To enforce non-compete agreements they need to be drafted carefully. Agreements that are too wide geographically or restrictive without clear reasoning may not be enforced should the situation ever arise. Here are some things that must be considered:
What States Are Non-Compete Agreements Not Enforceable?The states where non-compete agreements are not enforceable are California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma. In these three states and the District of Columbia, non-compete agreements are nearly entirely banned.
There are some exceptions where they may not be void such as in California; if the owner of a business is selling the entire business, or is selling the goodwill in the business, the parties to the sale can use a non-compete agreement to prevent the seller from competing with the business in the geographic area that the business conducts or has conducted.
How Long is a Non-Compete Agreement Good For?A non-compete is good for as long as stated in the agreement. Typically, six months or less is the stated duration and is a reasonable amount of time. In some cases, a non-compete could be enforceable for years. It depends on the needs of the company and the parties involved to how long a non-compete agreement lasts.
Not only employees have access to confidential information when working for a company, but freelancers and vendors may also obtain sensitive information when liaising with companies.
A Non-Compete Agreement must cover a number of essential details and needs to be drafted thoughtfully. Unclear or too restrictive clauses may cause agreements to become unenforceable in case of need.
Assignment provision. It makes sense to include a clause to clarify what happens in case of selling the company. It is advisable in most cases to ensure that employees would still be obliged to comply with the agreement.
If this is not possible, you will have to prove in court that the Non-Compete agreement is unreasonable in any of its clauses, such as restrictions in duration or geographical distance.
Many employers will have an individual sign a non-compete whether or not it is legal in the State. An employer benefits from having the employee feel as though they are restricted as their employer may still bring them to court knowing the employee will not have the funds to defend themselves.
Using the Non-Compete Release Form a past employee or independent contractor may use to free themselves of a non-compete agreement. The former employer, depending on how valuable the information that was transferred, may be hesitant to sign such an agreement without compensation.
Most non-compete agreements are only for a specific trade area such as a specific distance (radius of a location), City, County, State, or Nationwide. If the employee is able to re-locate and practice their trade outside the non-compete trade or market area, that could be the best option.
This is not always recommended but if the employer is unreasonable to allow the individual to break the non-compete, he or she may have to violate the contract. This means going out and performing the work that they are not supposed to be performing and risking themselves, along with their employer, of legal liability. This should only be an option if the individual feels as though the employer is small enough where they would not want to fight a legal battle against the person violating the contract.
A non-compete agreement plays a vital role in making sure that the ideas and assets of your organization do not get leaked to the competition. A non-compete agreement binds an employee not to work in any other competing organization by going against their employer in future, even when their relationship is terminated.
This fact sheet addresses the following frequently asked questions about non-compete agreements in employment contracts and how employers are using them in abusive ways to lock workers into low-wage jobs:
Non-competes are disproportionately harmful to women and people of color and have a history linked to racial injustice. Protecting corporations and businesses from potential violations of trade secrets is no reason to limit worker mobility, particularly when those concerns have remedies at law.
Non-competes were originally created to protect trade secrets and other confidential information. While they remain prevalent for well-paid and highly educated workers, these agreements are increasingly more common in underpaid industries, irrespective of job duties or access to confidential information.[15] Currently, almost 30 percent of non-competes cover workers who make below $13 per hour.[16]
Disproportionately Affects Women and People of Color: Banning non-competes would help alleviate racial and gender wage gaps because the underpaid workers who are most affected are disproportionality women and people of color. In fact, the use of non-competes can be traced back to the Reconstruction Era, when former owners of enslaved people used non-competes to keep freed Black workers working for them and maintain the master-slave relationship.[23]
Some reasons why non-competes can have a stronger impact on women and people of color are because they decrease entrepreneurship; reduce outside work due to limited ability and willingness to commute; produce fewer wage gains; and provide firms more power to discriminate.[24]
Studies have shown that women are also less willing to violate the terms of non-competes.[25] Women in states with stricter non-compete enforcement are less likely than men to leave their jobs or start rival companies if they are subject to a non-compete.[26]
Women and workers of color also are less likely to negotiate than their white counterparts, which may result in more restrictive agreements for them.[27] Further, the earnings of women and workers of color are reduced by twice as much as white male workers when there is stricter non-compete enforcement.[28]
The use of non-competes can be traced back to the Reconstruction Era, when former owners of enslaved people used non-competes to keep freed Black workers working for them and maintain the master-slave relationship.
Those who support non-competes argue they protect trade secrets, intellectual property, confidential or sensitive information, client lists, customer lists, pricing lists, and investment in worker training.[29]
There are many other mechanisms in place, however, to protect employers against these breaches of confidentiality. For example, federal laws such as the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Economic Espionage Act protect companies from unauthorized usage or misappropriation of protected trade secrets.[30] There are also state regulations governing similar issues,[31] and workers are bound by state common law fiduciary duties and duties of loyalty. These statutory and common law protections of company information can fill any void that employers may fear come with banning non-competes.[32] 2b1af7f3a8