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Thanks for sharing to remind us all. A non-compete for a minimum of X years clause might have helped the sting a bit.

My employer has a non-compete clause. It's not specific to the industry, I'm permitted to leave and work in the field. What I'm not permitted to do within the two year term is work with the same clients.

I can keep my linked in Rolodex but I have to look for new leads for the first two years.

In the industry I'm in, the clause is boilerplate at this point.

As an employee I don't like it, as a potential employer I'll be including the clause

Probably not.

The OP said that he let the person go. I doubt very much that a business can fire/lay off a person and then also say that they can't work in the same industry for some period of time.

Yep for non competes to be valid you have to have some recompense for signing the non compete and excessively long or broad non competes are very very hard to enforce.

Garden leave clauses, and any similar contractual obligation, come into effect on the termination of a contract. A termination can be through dismissal or resignation.

Otherwise, if you wanted to leave and take some clients with you, or work with a direct competitor, all you'd need to do is find a way to get yourself sacked.

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