Employment lawyers argue the clauses are harder to enforce and likely to scare off candidates
One of the most effective ways to retain employees over the past 40 years has been non-compete agreements.
Traditionally, employers include them in employment agreements and employees don’t even realize they exist until they give their two weeks’ notice. Then, it’s the HR leader’s duty to inform employees that they can’t work for a competitor for a specific amount of time (usually anywhere from six months to two years), or at least they can’t work in the same position for a competitor.
However, the power of non-compete clauses may be waning due to the Great Resignation, in which companies across the United States are experiencing historic turnover.
“Employees are becoming more aware of what these agreements do on the back end of their employment,” Katie Connolly, a labor and employment attorney at Minneapolis-based law firm Nilan Johnson Lewis, told HRD. “Because we’re in a highly competitive employment environment, employees can be more discerning about what they’re being offered. Plus, there’s a growing requirement among states to give employees explicit notice about non-competes, which is the first time employers have to put bright, flashing lights around what happens with these agreements.”
Connolly’s colleague Joel Andersen hears frequently from clients that they know someone who got screwed by signing a non-compete. Because of those horror stories, they’ve vowed to never put...
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