If you’re worried about losing your key employees or tradesecrets to a competitor, you might think about having thoseemployees sign a noncompete agreement, which would prevent themfrom immediately leaving your employ and working for one of yourrivals or using the information they gleaned on the job against youin some way. Although some companies have all their employees signthe same noncompete agreement when they join, this probably isn’tthe best way to go about it. General agreements signed by allemployees tend not to hold up in court. So it is better to writenoncompete agreements only for key employees. And make themspecific.
You should also take care to learn and understand the lawsregarding noncompete agreements in any state in which you dobusiness. For example, California and Texas state laws tend not tosupport employers in disputes involving noncompete agreements.
Don’t keep your noncompete agreements secret. Let employees knowthe company’s policy. Let competitors know it, too, so they won’tbe tempted to raid your employees. A company that hires a rival’semployee in violation of a noncompete agreement may be faced with alawsuit. Finally, when employees are leaving the company, remindthem of the noncompete agreement they signed and go over it withthem to make sure they realize what restrictions they may have toobserve.
