Ask HN: non-compete clauses in California

3 pointsbitops2 comments

I've read that non-compete clauses cannot be enforced in California. Is this true?

It's obviously not a good idea to break goodwill between you and a previous employer, OTOH, sometimes you know certain people are anxious to leave.

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I am not a lawyer. This is just what I know.

Generally speaking, non-compete are not enforceable but there are exceptions to the rule (some of which don't apply to general employees and potentially some that I may not know about).

That hasn't stopped some companies from suing if an employee leaves to a competing company and have proprietary knowledge (albeit rare).

I just took a job in Calfornia and their noncomplete agreement specifically mentions that its not enforceable in California so I don't think they would have put this in there unless they basically had to

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