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Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

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131–140 of 224 posts

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#131
post #40

Over the years so many different jurisdictions around the US and the world have stated their desire to be the "next Silicon Valley" and have poured an immense amount of money and effort to make it so, whether in the form of incentives for businesses, tax breaks, education, job training, or even just straight paying smart people to move there. Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the…

Some say the valley dominated over route 128 for this very reason.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fine with allowing non-competes as long as the company pays the ex-employee their full salary for the length of the non-compete and can't rescind the non-compete without mutual consent. For example, an 18 month non-compete would mean 18 months of paid vacation after you leave a job. I imagine this would be functionally equivalent to a ban on non-competes because it seems like it'd be an insane waste of money but…

This is a smart way to go about it. Only a tiny portion of truly critical positions would have compensated non-competes under this system and the rest would have no such blocks.

This is how it works in Norway.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#133
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond banning them de-jure you've also got to ban them de-facto. "We all know non-competes are unenforceable and illegal." There are no consequences for forcing someone to have the stress, expense, time and to secure the financing so that if everything works as it should (which it often doesn't in all the various legal systems) you get only some of that back. If it doesn't work as it should you're toast. Not a nice…

I've never heard of a court case involving a noncompete. Have you? (of course, I live in California.) It's maybe a little different if you're a chef and you've spent a lifetime mastering a particular recipe which is very hard to get right. You teach it to someone, and he goes out and opens his own restaurant selling that same dish. You can see the intuitive appeal of a noncompete, even if it's usually ineffective, an…

Brown v. TGS Management Co., LLC is an interesting court case involving a "noncompete" from California: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020...

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#134
post #82
post #40

Over the years so many different jurisdictions around the US and the world have stated their desire to be the "next Silicon Valley" and have poured an immense amount of money and effort to make it so, whether in the form of incentives for businesses, tax breaks, education, job training, or even just straight paying smart people to move there. Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the…

> Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the one key piece of California law that is necessary for a startup ecosystem to exist – banning noncompetes. As I look out the window of my Seattle apartment, observing a literal forest of new construction, sky-rocketing rents and costs of living, I must interpret the tech boom here as 'the next Silicon Valley failing', because Washington state…

> Or, maybe I can choose to believe my eyes, and note that the the presence or absence of non-competes isn't a very important factor for driving a tech boom. [1]

Or that other factors of working in WA somewhat mitigate downsides of non competes. Sad that WA lawmakers accepted the bribes from large businesses and capped non compete bans at $100k per year payrates. Could have leveled the playing field with CA a bit more.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#135
post #40

Over the years so many different jurisdictions around the US and the world have stated their desire to be the "next Silicon Valley" and have poured an immense amount of money and effort to make it so, whether in the form of incentives for businesses, tax breaks, education, job training, or even just straight paying smart people to move there. Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the…

> "But I'll spend money to train my employees and they'll just take those skills to go work for a competitor or start their own business!" Yes, that's a feature of the system, not a bug.

This mentality has never made sense to me. Why would a business invest so much money into training someone, then fail to spend the money needed to retain the (more valuable) trained employee?? "They'll leave after we train them" is a ridiculously easily preventable problem.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#136
post #129
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'd say that's different, not sure how the anecdote applies whatsoever.

The reason it’s relevant is because that is literally what a non compete is supposed to be for .

This is talking about non competes that apply after one is no longer employed.

Yours is something entirely different.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not they're now being used for fast food employees.

What is a bit hilarious is the idea that the new guy will change any procedure at his new place because of his experience somewhere else. “Thank you, but it’s the franchise HQ who makes the rules, not the rank and file”

It's just a retention tool, a shitty abusive one.

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#138
post #40

Over the years so many different jurisdictions around the US and the world have stated their desire to be the "next Silicon Valley" and have poured an immense amount of money and effort to make it so, whether in the form of incentives for businesses, tax breaks, education, job training, or even just straight paying smart people to move there. Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the…

I thought austin was like silicon valley, but with own-the-employee-mind-invasiveness. Maybe companies get bigger and move to austin?

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#139
post #40

Over the years so many different jurisdictions around the US and the world have stated their desire to be the "next Silicon Valley" and have poured an immense amount of money and effort to make it so, whether in the form of incentives for businesses, tax breaks, education, job training, or even just straight paying smart people to move there. Every such scheme has generally failed because they refused to emulate the…

> "But I'll spend money to train my employees and they'll just take those skills to go work for a competitor or start their own business!" Yes, that's a feature of the system, not a bug. This mentality has never made sense to me. Why would a business invest so much money into training someone, then fail to spend the money needed to retain the (more valuable) trained employee?? "They'll leave after we train them" is a…

wonder how that is solved in practice?

(also wondering about the armed services and paying for medical school)

Re: Laws barring noncompete clauses spreading

#140
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyond banning them de-jure you've also got to ban them de-facto. "We all know non-competes are unenforceable and illegal." There are no consequences for forcing someone to have the stress, expense, time and to secure the financing so that if everything works as it should (which it often doesn't in all the various legal systems) you get only some of that back. If it doesn't work as it should you're toast. Not a nice…

I've never heard of a court case involving a noncompete. Have you? (of course, I live in California.) It's maybe a little different if you're a chef and you've spent a lifetime mastering a particular recipe which is very hard to get right. You teach it to someone, and he goes out and opens his own restaurant selling that same dish. You can see the intuitive appeal of a noncompete, even if it's usually ineffective, an…

I have a friend who got a new job, then gave it up because his previous employer "reminded" him that he had signed a non-compete.

Now, we're both in Ohio, where it likely would have been enforceable, but the point I'm making is that a court case wasn't necessary - the mere threat was sufficient.

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