Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania

Re: no compete agreement

It is difficult to say without reviewing the actual agreement.

Re: no compete agreement

The non-compete agreement has to be reasonable in it's scope as to length and area. That means if it bars you from ever practicing your trade in any geographic location, it may not be valid. However, you definitely should not go to work in the same area for another employer in direct competition with your present employer. It is best to contact an attorney and to have the attorney review the non-compete agreement and advise you after having the benefit of reviewing the non-compete agreement, the consideration for the agreement, and the scope of the agreement.

Re: no compete agreement

You asked about a non-compete agreement.

Non-compete agreements are often more flash than fire. A non-compete must be sufficiently limited in scope (time, industry and distance) so that it does not limit an employee's ability to earn a living. Moreover, non-compete agreements are very hard to enforce against non-management employees without specific proprietary knowledge.

For example, employee X is an electrician installing electronic billboards. An employer could limit that the employee could not work for another company installing electronic billboards in the same market in which the employee worked for a period of one year. The employer usually cannot say that the employer cannot work in the same industry throughout the country or practice that specific trade or not compete for more than a short, definite period of time (1 or 2 years). Any violation in the scope of the agreement would generally make the entire non-compete agreement void.

You really need to speak with an attorney regarding this matter. S/he could better tell you what your rights and responsibilities are after reading the agreement and learning about your trade and the employer's business.

Please contact me if you would like to follow up on this.

Regards,

Roger