Ask HN: Question regarding NDA/Non-compete | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Question regarding NDA/Non-compete

4 pointsWilandOr190313 comments

My employer wants me to sign an NDA/non-compete that says I can't work for company vendors. Is this common?

It complete depends on country.

If you are in India. NDA(exists), but it's worth as much as a paper. NCA doesn't exist, Until you are using the existing companies properties(software, hardware) which literally means stealing from one company and giving to others. Until then it's not a crime.

It's good for India, because it's promoting the trade to the country and in India we support good competition.

Government was against google when they were trying to dominate the virtual advertisement by acquiring a small startups from India.

That's not an NDA. That's a non-compete. What state are you in? Some states like California ban noncompetes (Sec. 16600 of the business and professions code). Others allow them.

The reason companies ask you to sign a non-compete is not to protect company secrets, it's more like they want to keep salaries down in an area.

This particular document doubles as both an NDA and a non-compete. I did some research, and it looks as if my particular state does allow for non-compete agreements to exist.

What happens if you refuse to sign it? Is it: "sign or be fired?". Also if you are in a financial position of strength, it may be advantageous and savvy to fight it by not signing. This way you may be able to get the terms modified to be less onerous. If they are presenting it like a contract of adhesion (sign it as-is or be fired). Then you don't have much choice unless you can live without employment for a while or move to a state with more employee-friendly laws.

Well, I honestly don't know...it was never explicitly presented as such, but it was also not presented with an ability to negotiate.

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not suggesting that I am, but you may want to ask about the impact of not signing the non-compete as signing it will limit your future employment opportunities. You may also want to talk to a lawyer in your state. You obviously are concerned about signing this.

If non-compete is legal in your state, then you may have to sign it if you want the job. However, make sure that the non-compete has a time limit which usually should not be more than 12-18 months. This means that you may work for the vendors once that period is over. Never sign open ended non-compete.

Yes it is common for an employer to ask you to sign a non-compete. For example, an employee at Wipro who is working on a client's project say Pitney Bowes cannot come work for Pitney Bowes directly on that same project. He / She can get sued if there are agreements in place.

Yes, I recognize it's quite common to sign a non-compete, my question was specifically about whether it was common to include vendors in the agreement.

Yes, it is.

That depends on the industry, can you be a bit more specific?

Unfortunately, I can't really be more specific other than to say it's in the software industry.

Well, I have seen both cases happen where you have to and where you don't. In some industries it is standard, others not so much because of the incestual nature of that field. Perhaps ask others that you know in the same industry?

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