{"id":4341,"date":"2017-02-27T09:14:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T14:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:14:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:14:06","slug":"tips-for-non-compete-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/tips-for-non-compete-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Tips for Non-Compete Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4342\" src=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/signature-2003808_1280.jpg\" alt=\"tips for non-compete agreements\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/signature-2003808_1280.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/signature-2003808_1280-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/signature-2003808_1280-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-content\/uploads\/signature-2003808_1280-1080x720.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/>Many small businesses struggle to determine <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/non-compete-agreements-company-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">whether or not non-compete agreements are worthwhile to use<\/a>.\u00a0 Such agreements are employment contracts designed to restrict an employee\u2019s right to start a competing business across the street or to take your clients, other employees, or even your training with them when joining your competition. Depending on how the agreements are written and applied, they may help add protection to your business or simply add headaches.<\/p>\n<p>From an HR perspective, be sure to think about the following six tips for non-compete agreements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>What are the appropriate restrictions?\u00a0 <\/b>Specifically pick the restrictions that make most sense to adequately protect your company. The most common types include a non-compete, a client non-solicit, an employee non-solicit, and \/ or non-disclosure.<\/li>\n<li><b>What is the scope of the restrictions?\u00a0 <\/b>In some states, overly broad non-compete conditions can be detrimental against employers because courts will refuse to recognize the overall agreement even if the clause in question is only slightly too broad. Also, take into account the location where the employee may be working.<\/li>\n<li><b>What is the nature of the job position?<\/b>\u00a0 A non-compete agreement should protect the company\u2019s legitimate interest, such as confidential information.\u00a0 Tailoring the duration, scope, and geographic restrictions of the covenant to the particular position and circumstances of the employee (or category of employees) is likely to enhance the enforceability of the agreement.<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>How is confidential information secured?<\/b>\u00a0Take reasonable measures (e.g. password protect computers) to identify and communicate with employees as well as protect what is considered confidential. Upon termination, require employees to return any company document or information, including devices (e.g. laptops or cell phones) that may contain confidential information.<\/li>\n<li><b>What is the duration that the agreement can be enforced?\u00a0 <\/b>In the event of a breach, include language (if allowable) that can automatically extend the duration of the non-compete agreement.<\/li>\n<li><b>Is the non-compete agreement complete?<\/b>\u00a0After all the hard work put into creating, reviewing, negotiating (perhaps), and then finalizing the agreement, make sure that it is clearly signed and dated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some small businesses may be confused or hesitant in using non-compete agreements. To help in the process, an experienced HR professional can provide cost-effective and highly knowledgeable guidance. An attorney may also help to review the \u201cfinal\u201d version just before you hand it to your employee. Regardless, taking the early steps in determining whether or not non-compete agreements make sense for your business will help you gain a better understanding of how to take better care of your business.<\/p>\n<p>For information on how GTM provides client access to HR consultants for help with issues like this, learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/what-we-offer\/hr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our HR solutions<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/contact-gtm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact us<\/a> at (518) 373-4111.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Non-compete agreements, if your business feels it needs them, need to be carefully written so they protect your business and don&#8217;t cause more headaches. Here are six tips for non-compete agreements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[16,18,19],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-4341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services","tag-employees","tag-employer-policies","tag-human-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9689,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341\/revisions\/9689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4341"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=4341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}