Legal Question in Employment Law in Pennsylvania
Enforceable Non-compete?
I was an ''at-will'' employee. Over a year AFTER my initial employment I was asked (forced?) to sign a Non-compete / Non-disclosure agreement. The agreement was NOT a term of my employment. I assumed sign or be fired. Almost 2 years later - I was laid-off during a reorganization. I feel trapped - what are my rights / options?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Enforceable Non-compete?
Generally, non-compete clauses must have adequate consideration to be valid. In other words, if you were given the non-compete after you had been working for the company, it was not an original condition of your employment and they did not give you some type of compensation for signing the non-compete, it may well not be valid. Additionally, PA has very strict requirements concerning the terms of non-compete clauses which can affect their enforceablility. These include reasonable limits on duration and geographic scope. To give you a full legal opinion about the enforceability of the non-compete, I would have to see the actual document and also get some more informaiton from you. If you would like to discuss it further, please contact me..
Ted Hoppe
(610) 892-7777
Re: Enforceable Non-compete?
Under Pennsylvania law, non-competition agreements in employment contracts are only enforceable if they are signed at the start of employment or when the employee�s job duties
significantly expand. Therefore, a non-competition agreement signed one year after the start of employment would not be enforced under Pennsylvania Law. Also, Pennsylvania law prohibits an employer from enforcing a non compete agreement after firing an employee under most circumstances.
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