Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia
Non Compete statement
I was fired from my job which I had been employed almost 3 years. My employer verbally promissed me 2 weeks severance pay. Five days after being fired I received a no compete statement for me to sign and return to my former employer or I could not get my severance pay. Is this legal and do I have any legal recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Non Compete statement
Yes, it is legal, and common, for an employee to agree to a non-compete or other restriction, in exchange for severence. The employee generally has the ability to decline, or try o negotiate another deal. As for what was "verbally promised," you provide no facts to indicate whether it was an express promise to provide severence with no conditions whatsoever, or just a general offer to give you severence under some terms, which they apparently did. Even if it was the former, it would not necessarily be an enforceable contract.