It is dishonorable to sign an agreement knowing you won't adhere to your end because it's unenforceable.
After all, we make promises all the time that are unenforceable, but we keep them.
After all, we make promises all the time that are unenforceable, but we keep them.
If one party holds all the cards in a contract negotiation it's never truly being negotiated in good faith in the first place. Furthermore, one could argue that without having an expert on contract law right then and there available to answer any questions about any given contract means it falls under a "lack of capacity" for basically anyone who isn't a lawyer.
Employee agreements often fail in courts because of:
- Duress
- Lack of capacity (e.g. due to overly complicated legalese *specifically written to be hard to understand*)
- Undue influence (e.g. company says they'll hire someone else if you ask to get the contract reviewed by a lawyer before signing)
- Misrepresentation (e.g. job was described as "X" but turns out it's "Y")
- Non-disclosure (e.g. candidate was not told job would require purchasing products or services sold by the company itself or a partner)
- Unconscionability (e.g. some term or terms in the contract are so unfair that it cannot be allowed to stand... Like a non-compete that says you can't work within 50 miles of your former place of employment if you leave)
In fact, that scenario is so dishonorable that in some states you can ask the court for triple damages if the employer tries to enforce the noncompete
For anyone in the US who needs regular healthcare beyond what's provided by Medicaid, the labor market is a war for (literal) survival. If the ownership class didn't want to return to an extremely adversarial relationship with labor, then they shouldn't have gutted the social safety net.
And no, I'm not going to show my hand in an imperfect information game... it would be stupid and dishonorable to my family to present with anything other than bourgeoisie professional-managerial class sensibilities.
Nobody is making you sign it.
They're likely banking on that sense of honor to make you hold yourself to obligations they can't legally hold you to.