So, if you landed a major gig only for your prospective employer to give you a non-compete agreement, don’t worry. This article details the nooks and crooks you should know before coloring the dotted lines.

What is a Non-Compete Agreement?

A non-compete agreement is a document that legally binds two parties. It restricts the employee from starting a competitive business for a designated amount of time. The agreement burns you from exploring new opportunities in rival companies. Also, you cannot disclose information considered by your employer confidential or proprietary.

For clarity, just know that this legal binding is meant to protect the working condition and wages of the US workforce while at the same time allowing the hiring of foreign employees. So, whether to sign it or walk away is determined by how bad you need that job.

How Important Is It?

The law obliges every potential employer to confirm the authorization of their new employees for work but not to discriminate against hiring foreign employees. It is an essential document this.

The non-compete agreement started as a scalpel for industries to protect their intellectual properties. With time technology has made this need a desperate must-have bludgeon that exploits every sector in the US. With the uncertainties and unpredictability of the future, companies have to retain their most valuable capital – their talented employees.

When no is not a luxury you can afford, try to bargain for better terms. Read every line. Scrutinize every detail. Make sure you get it right before signing. The non-compete law varies in every state.

Where You Should Pay Attention

The larger the regional radius that binds you, the more you should negotiate for better terms. Also, ask the hiring company to specify which companies are out of your reach so you find yourself exiled from the rest of the industry. Remember that that contract comes with an expiry date.

Keep your employer on a short leash. Limiting yourself to one place for long periods is a career killer. Again, bargain for the departure time. Does the contract hold if you are fired? Also, in case you decide to sue the employer when the contract is still valid, who pays for the company lawyer?

Hiring foreign employees gets harder every day. The non-compete agreements are the latest forms of economic insurance.

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When hiring foreign workers, you’ll need permission from government agencies and may want to have them sign a non-compete agreement. Employers have to ask for certification first from the Department of Labor. A work visa issuance is not guaranteed by approval from the Department of Labor.

Once their application is approved, the employer must require a work visa for the employee from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. Job applicants must also prove under the provisions of INA that they are admissible to the U.S.

The various foreign labor certification programs have the role to ensure that hiring foreign workers in the U.S. on a temporary or permanent basis is not going to affect negatively the wages, job opportunities, and working conditions of American workers.

One of the issues you may face as an employer of foreign workers is related to the non-compete agreements. For some companies, the non-compete agreements are necessary in order to ensure that the business doesn’t lose confidential information and trade secrets to competitors.

What is a Non-Compete Agreement Exactly?
Non-compete agreements are contractual agreements signed between a client and independent contractor or an employer and employee. They have the role to limit for a duration of time the worker’s ability after leaving his or her current job to work for a competitor.

These agreements are not only to be found between American companies and foreign workers. They also can be necessary in the case of hiring American workers. However, in order to protect trade secrets, they might be even more necessary in the case of hiring foreign workers.

How Are They Enforced?
The enforceability of a non-compete agreement depends on what state it is being applied and how it is worded. In some states courts broadly enforce non-competes agreements, while others require more narrowly tailored agreements. California and several other states do not enforce non-competes agreements in most cases.

Should I Use One?
As an employer, it is not always a good idea to require your foreign worker employees to sign a non-compete agreement. Sometimes, these agreements may have the potential to scare away any good candidates for your open position since talented people may prefer to want to keep open their options.

In case that you are considering having your foreign worker employees sign a non-compete agreement, you need to be very clear on what specifically are you worried about. This way you can better tailor your agreement so that it isn’t overly broad but addresses your concerns.

A well designed non-compete agreement has greater chances that your non-compete agreement could be enforceable in most jurisdictions. Generally, such an agreement should be reasonable in duration, scope, and its geographic reach.

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