noncompete agreement

[roberto]

Hi!

My noncompete agreement states the following:

"The employee further agrees to and covenants that for a period of two years after termination of employment, whether such termination is VOLUNTARY OR "FOR CAUSE" [my caps], that the employee will not serve in any management capacity for any company .... etc."

The question is:

What if my employer decides to down size, wants to reduce my salary to cut back expenses or simply decides that he has no further use for me because my performance is not up to expectation? Does the agreement still bind me under those circumstances where my termination is therefore neither "voluntary" nor "for cause"?

[Edited by roberto on 02-19-2001 at 01:38 PM]

[sparkies56]

Roberto,

I also had a non compete contract given to me. If this is the case your employer should be offering you some kind of compensation for not working for anyone else, the contract should also give you the option to terminate it, by either the employer giving you a written weeks notice of letting you go, or by you giving them a written 2 week notice. There should also be some kind of area 50mile etc. Make sure you read it very carefully over and over because alot of these contracts contradict itself. Make sure you put everything in writing, and see if you can make some kind of changes in the contract that may make you feel a little better about signing it. If you do not sign it I take it you are an at-will employee. If you sign it, it may actually give you some kind of leverage if something later happens. After signing it you are no longer an at-will employee, because you now have a contract. Sometimes this is a good thing. But there should be some kind of compensation. Contracts are all negotiable, usually. My case I was discriminated against. He came up with the contract because i worked at home after hours for someone else, he let other people change things in the contract but not me. I in turn would not sign it, he would not compensate me for not working for anyone else either. I was then fired the same day for not signing it. He says I dont fit in anymore that was the reason. Unbelievable. Well good luck!!

[Edited by sparkies56 on 02-21-2001 at 01:51 PM]

[roberto]

Sorry to hear about you troubles. In my case, the agreement is already in place. I simply question if I am still bound by the agreement if my termination of employment is INVOLUNTARY (i.e. under protest from me), since this eventuality seems to have been left out of the text. Probably a question for a lawyer ...