Five ways to negotiate a non-compete contract

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Nowadays, many employees who resign from a company are asked to sign a non-compete contract which prevents them from working for competitors or from starting businesses that would compete against their previous company.

It is near impossible for an aspiring employee not to sign such a contract, as it might reduce his chances of landing a job at a competing firm. However, negotiation is still possible, and Forbes.com lists five ways that one can use to do just that:

• Consulting an attorney. This can be a very good idea, as lawyers who are well-versed in these matters can negotiate certain terms that may be beneficial for the applicant.

• Limiting the geography. Since a broad scope of the non-compete contract with respect to geography and time is beneficial only to the employer, there should be certain limits to this. Restricting a secretary from working in the same industry on another state may not be legally plausible, but restricting a computer game programmer might, as the Internet is global in scale.

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• Limiting the time span. Applicants should also limit the time before they will be allowed to work at a competing company. Anything more than two years will not be favored in court.

• Exploring other restrictions. Instead of a non-compete contract, applicants can also ask their employers for a non-disclosure or a non-solicitation contract instead. Both of these protect the valuable resources of the company while allowing the employee to work in competing companies immediately after resignation.

• Requesting to get paid. As the employee will be unable to work in his or her respective specialties during the time specified in the non-compete contract, he or she could try to negotiate a certain amount of money to serve as recompense.

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Even though most companies do not give enough leeway for a non-compete contract negotiation, an aspiring employee should make every effort to negotiate such matter.

One practice area that Atty. Evan Granowitz specializes in is breach of contract disputes. Visit this Twitter page for more information on related topics.