All non-compete employment agreements are now void in California. I think that’s great, we can only hope that it spreads.
I have always felt that non-compete agreements were a bad idea. They don’t really work that well and it’s just another way for corporations to meddle in the lives of their employees. If they are so worried about investments they make in you such as training or certifications, then they should do what a former employer of mine did and specify that you have to repay those costs on a pro-rated basis if you leave (until a certain point.) This should be the only protection for the employer against losing you to someone else. Anything else is just trying to interfere with an individual’s right to make the best choices for their life.
Of course the companies always want as much control as they can get. If they can make it difficult (I don’t think most states allow a complete prohibition on working in your field) for you to leave, then they can treat you however they feel like. Of course in some areas, like where I live, they can also designate you as an “at-will” employee where either party can terminate the employment for any reason. So the catch-22 is you can leave, whenever you want, but you can’t work at a competitor which in some fields can make things quite tricky.
I am also lucky in that non-competes in my state are very hard to enforce although they are still legal. (But it cannot be an undue burden and prevent you from working in your field, just for direct competition.) Still, the threat has to be considered if only for the legal costs of defending yourself if your old employer feels like being difficult.
Bottom line… There will always be employee turnover and it’s just a cost of doing business. If you don’t want to lose people, treat them well and compensate them fairly. It could be worse for the companies, in Western Europe a lot of reductions in staff require government/labor group approval and it’s darn near impossible to fire someone. I’d say that sounds great, but that way lies socialism.
State Supreme Court Rejects Non-compete Clauses [sfgate.com]
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