Non Compete Clause

[Chrisgr31]

May be its more relevant here rather than the business section. A friend contracts for firms who are submitting tenders for work in a relatively specialised field. Generally speaking tends to be around 6 month contract until tender submitted. Then he'll be out of work until next one comes up, and he hopes one of them will appoint him.

So on his last contract he failed to read the contract properly and missed a non complete clause which says he can't work for a competitor for 6 months which when thats your job is a trifle difficult. Can anyone recommend a lawyer in the field who can give him advice on this?

[PorkInsider]

Doesn’t Breadvan72 specialise in that area?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Integroo]

Six months is fairly normal and is likely enforceable. It depends on the facts of the case: the industry and industry norms, how senior the employee is, geographic scope, scope of restriction etc.

Query whether he is sufficiently senior with enough access to confidenconfidentially sensitive to make it worth enforcing.

[rlg43p]

He should take proper legal advice, but non-compete clauses are difficult to enforce if they effectively prevent someone from earning their living.

[mikeveal]

PorkInsider said:

Doesn’t Breadvan72 specialise in that area?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I thought so too, but either he's referring to the colonies, or he can't spell gaol.

[Lazadude]

IANAL in any way shape or form, so purely a hypothetical question by a layman.

Say you work in a super specialised field, where there's only 2/3 companies doing what you do and you are an industry leader. Wouldn't this effectively mean that you are unable to leave your job unless you can afford 6 months without pay?

Can you counter sue for some form of loss of income?

[Integroo]

Lazadude said:

IANAL in any way shape or form, so purely a hypothetical question by a layman.

Say you work in a super specialised field, where there's only 2/3 companies doing what you do and you are an industry leader. Wouldn't this effectively mean that you are unable to leave your job unless you can afford 6 months without pay?

Can you counter sue for some form of loss of income?

IAL. No. You agreed to the non compete when you signed the contract. They're typically only imposed on senior (and therefore well paid) employees who will hold properly sensitive information in their role and who would pose a risk to the business (ie taking with them customers or sensitive information) if they left. There are controls in place - overly long or overly broad non competes won't be enforceable. However, a six month block on a senior employee going to direct conpetitors is likely enforceable.

Ofc, fact specific legal advice is essential.

[brrapp]

Surely the fact that he is a contractor rather than a employee makes a big difference here. Yes they can enforce a noncompete on him becoming an employee for a competitor, but I'd think it would be pretty difficult to stop him contracting.

[Driving Miss Daisy]

The onus would be on his previous employer to prosecute which I believe they very rarely do.

The cost would be high on there side and it's rarely worth it.

I signed a 12 month non-compete about ten years ago, i left that employer two years ago to join there biggest competitor. Nothing was done. I also know five or six former colleagues who've done the same thing.

I think they are used as more of a deterrent, just like NDA's. But they are rarely followed.

If he's worried he should ask the new employers legal team to take a look at what he signed. They will give free advice I'm sure.

[Rude-boy]

Integroo said:

Ofc, fact specific legal advice is essential.

This is the right answer, as also given by others.

These things are very specific to many different factors and so OP's friend needs to see someone professionally about this.

And remember the next time that they read a contract that they need to either trim the time or up the money to cover the loss of earnings!

[E36GUY]

As far as I remember, non compete clauses are enforcable to a point. A company cannot places restrictions on someone's ability to work so afaik, he can go and work for any of the competitors he likes. A company can however, insist that a leaving employee may not contact or solicit work from their clients on behalf of the competion for an amount of time.

I am not a lawyer.

[Integroo]

E36GUY said:

As far as I remember, non compete clauses are enforcable to a point. A company cannot places restrictions on someone's ability to work so afaik, he can go and work for any of the competitors he likes. A company can however, insist that a leaving employee may not contact or solicit work from their clients on behalf of the competion for an amount of time.

I am not a lawyer.

Yeah, that's wrong, sorry.

[Chrisgr31]

Rude-boy said:

This is the right answer, as also given by others.

These things are very specific to many different factors and so OP's friend needs to see someone professionally about this.

I did mean to ask for any recommendations as to who to see. Assume its something for someone specialised.

[anonymous-user]

(1) It is impossible to advise without seeing the exact text of the covenant and knowing the business context.

(2) There is no substitute for insured professional advice. PM me for some recommended lawyers. Not me - I don't do direct access.

(3) Suggestions above that covenants such as these are rarely enforced are incorrect. Such covenants are frequently enforced. Litigation about them is commonplace and the costs of such litigation tend to be very high.