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Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#21

Post by MeNotLawyer »

forty wrote: post #15

You should better consult a lawyer than a bunch of random people if this is important for you. Or better yet: not work for a company that tries to make you sign such agreements. And especially not this one :) I don't know where you live. In my country (France) overly broad non compete are not enforceable, and also you need to be paid during the non compete period (at least 1/3 of your compensation or something like t…

I'm curious then what people do when they leave AWS. Do they just not work for 18 months?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#24

Post by mkl95 »

zrail wrote: post #5

The only time I would ever sign a noncompete like that is if it came with 18 months of severance pay. That's ludicrous.

That sums up non competes in Europe. Usually companies are required to pay 25%-75% of a former employee's salary in order to make a non compete clause enforceable.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#25

Post by lesuorac »

rantallion wrote: post #3
brodouevencode wrote: post #2

Generally, are non-competes even enforceable? Especially in industries (like cloud providers) where there is a very small number of players.

This. Every time I see the topic come up, there are countless examples of them being thrown out in court without a fight, usually because they're either too broad (like OP's example of not completing with the entirety of Amazon) or too long (18 months is nuts).

But do you or a future employer want to go to court over this?

Not having it in the first place is a way better solution.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#26

Post by rsstack »

MeNotLawyer wrote: post #21
forty wrote: post #15

You should better consult a lawyer than a bunch of random people if this is important for you. Or better yet: not work for a company that tries to make you sign such agreements. And especially not this one :) I don't know where you live. In my country (France) overly broad non compete are not enforceable, and also you need to be paid during the non compete period (at least 1/3 of your compensation or something like t…

I'm curious then what people do when they leave AWS. Do they just not work for 18 months?

They hope AWS won't enforce it. If you aren't very important (L7+, senior management), and you don't work on the _same exact_ project at a competitor, Amazon will probably not attempt to enforce it. Is it right that Amazon are doing this? Hell, no: they're awful for doing this. But that's not even one of the top-five awful things they do to employees.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#27

Post by silicon2401 »

Talk to a lawyer or just say no. Whatever the lawyer costs you, it won't be as bad as getting yourself in a sticky situation because of the non compete. Or if you turn it down, you can definitely get a job elsewhere if you got an offer from amazon

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully renegotiated an AWS non-compete?

#30

Post by infogulch »

forty wrote: post #15

You should better consult a lawyer than a bunch of random people if this is important for you. Or better yet: not work for a company that tries to make you sign such agreements. And especially not this one :) I don't know where you live. In my country (France) overly broad non compete are not enforceable, and also you need to be paid during the non compete period (at least 1/3 of your compensation or something like t…

> [in France] you need to be paid during the non compete period (at least 1/3 of your compensation or something like this)

Oh that's interesting. That is the first time I've seen a justifiable contractual consideration on the employer's side for a non-compete.

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