Legal Question in Employment Law in Connecticut

Re: Non Compete

Signing NCAs (non-compete agreements) is a common concern, especially among independent contractors.

Insofar as the Courts are concerned, three years is generally considered an exceptionally long period of time to prevent someone from obtaining employment or work elsewhere in the field.

Typically, the Courts will uphold NCAs if they are reasonable as they pertain to time and geographic scope. Based on court decisions, six months to a year are usually considered reasonable; however, exceptional circumstances warrant special consideration. For example, if you are working on animation for a feature film in which the development process is three years.

In general, however, preventing someone from working in an industry for three years would be considered unreasonable by the Courts.

You have a few choices:

- Many ICs simply choose to cross out the offensive sentence, number, or paragraphs.

- You could tell the company how unreasonable that is and that unless they are willing to pay you for the three years spent sitting on the sidelines, you won't sign it.

- You could compromise on six months or a year.

- You can accept the job, knowing that the provision is unlikely to be upheld, and cross that bridge when you come to it.

Best of luck!

Jason