Morning Business 60: Protecting Your Business From Unfair Competition By Former Employees – Is It A Fairy Tale?

Once upon a time, a person worked for the same company for most of his or her career. In today’s evolving and fast-paced world, however, a person is likely to change jobs and employers multiple times before retirement. This leaves business owners facing a conundrum: how to lawfully prevent unfair competition by employees who have material access to confidential information, strategic business plans and important customers and who may move on to work for competitors in the marketplace. A key method of protection used by companies today is the employee non-compete agreement. While these agreements can be powerful protection for businesses, too often the agreements used are poorly drafted, out-of-date and, ultimately, unenforceable. In order to maximize their usefulness, it is imperative that companies using non-compete agreements understand the intricacies of restrictive covenants, including how today’s courts interpret and enforce them. In this MB60 presentation, we will examine the do’s and don’ts of employee non-compete agreements, so employers have a better chance of “happily ever after” when their employees move on.