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Comment by jiggy2011 | Hacker News Reader

jiggy2011·

Employment contracts are almost always written to supply as many benefits to the employer and mitigate as many risks as possible.

The worst case scenario for them is that they find out that certain clauses are not enforceable. In reality I imagine it is often known that some may be unenforceable but they are added anyway on the basis that the employee doesn't know this.

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One of the few things I've learned over the last 10 years or so is to be much bolder in work/job relationships. If I see something in a contract that is too one-sided, I strike it out and bring it up and say "I'm not agreeing to that". Will I sign a contract with, say, a 5 year non-compete (even assuming the non-compete is enforceable)? Generally no, unless there's a huge compensation package tied to make up for the time when I can't use my knowledge in the market. Would I sign one with a 3-6 month non-compete? Probably.

15 years ago I'd sign anything. Today, not so much.

This is true, many people don't realise that contract terms are technically negotiable in the same way that salary and things are.

In GA the constitution USED to be written such that unenforceable contracts, especially unenforceable employment contracts, were void in their entirety.

They sadly passed an amendment to remove that :O(

Is GA something to do with a US state?

Please spell these things out in full. It's only a few extra characters and it helps the rest of us pretend this site is global.

You are correct sir, GA is the 2-letter abbreviation for the state of Georgia.

Spelling it out does not disambiguate it, as there is a country named that as well.

GA is oddly enough likely more specific, even if harder to decode, than Georgia. The country is abbreviated GE.

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