FTC Proposes to Ban Non Compete Clauses

[Dr vonPuffenberg]

On 1/6/2023 at 8:49 AM, Dr vonPuffenberg said:

I'm a sales Arborist at a national tree company (US).  I had to sign a non compete when I took the job.  I happen to be interviewing at another company tomorrow morning for a similar position, albeit in a different sales territory.  If I end up taking the job, I will be in violation of the non-compete and I'm just not that worried about it.  They can come after me if they want, I just don't believe they will.  My friend at my current employer took a job at another large tree company and the regional VP vaguely threatened him but never took any action.

As Prez said, you will be locked into a job forever.  I would have to move out of state to not violate the contract.  How can they reasonably expect a person to make a career?  In my industry there's not really any secret knowledge, just client lists.  I understand the right of the employer to do this, and I'm not really sure the FTC has the right to restrict it.  Whether or not any legal action is actually taken is where the rubber meets the road.

I will double my salary if I get this new job.  If I ever want to smoke Cohibas again, I need to get hired here 😉.  If I find myself getting sued into the poor house, I'll update this thread.

 

Update:

I'm having a much better day than BoliDan, that's for sure!  Started the new job today. No issues with the non-compete, but I will be signing a new one tomorrow! 😆

[Duxnutz]

Thank god I don’t work in an industry that participates in this kinda nonsense.

[Lamboinee]

In my state, non-competes are enforced by the courts in very limited circumstances. Where they are enforceable, they almost always have a very limited scope and/or duration.

[BlueRidgeFly]

I work in the software industry and signed a non-compete that is in effect with my current work arrangement. The aim of the company is to prevent someone from leaving and poaching clients. I'm more than OK with abiding by that. I'm not OK with being prevented from simply working for someone else in the same industry. The latter are the kinds of non-compete agreements that should have never even been legal.

[Hammer Smokin']

I've never heard of that second kind. 

but yes, extremely common in commercial insurance to have a non compete in place preventing you from leaving/opening up your own firm, and poaching clients.