In the business world, you need to do everything you can to protect your competitive advantage. While this might mean being creative in your marketing strategies or developing new product lines, it also means being careful with sensitive information such as trade secrets, intellectual property, and business strategies. But how do you protect that information? One way is to have certain employees enter into non-compete agreements.
Ensuring that your non-compete is legally enforceable
Non-compete agreements ensure that your workers who have access to sensitive information don’t leave your employ and immediately go to work for a competitor and divulge that information that makes you competitive. But you can’t just place a blanket bar on these employees. Even if you did and the worker signed off on it, you’d likely face litigation that probably wouldn’t turn out in your favor.
So how can you increase the chances that your non-compete agreement will be deemed valid and enforceable? A lot of it is about reasonableness. Look at each aspect of your non-compete agreement and ask whether you can argue that it’s reasonable and not too restrictive on the worker. Geographic scope, for example, should be limited and so, too, should the length of the non-compete agreement.
There are other things to consider, too. You also have to ensure that the non-compete agreement protects a legitimate business. The employee also has to receive something in return for signing the agreement.
Attention to detail can better protect your business
On their face, non-compete agreements seem pretty straightforward. But the truth of the matter is that they can be enormously complicated, especially since the state tends to take a hard edge on enforcement of these agreements. For that reason, if you’re considering utilizing non-compete agreements, it might be best to discuss them with an attorney who is experienced in business law and business litigation. The same holds true if you now need to take legal action to enforce an existing non-compete agreement. Only then can you ensure that you’re aggressively protecting your business and its interest moving forward.