Raleigh Business Litigation Attorney

Non-Compete Agreements

A non-compete agreement is a contract between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees not to compete with the employer for a set length of time after the termination of their employment. Non-compete agreements basically prevent employees from using the confidential information of their former employer to compete with that employer. If you need help drafting, implementing, or reviewing a non-compete agreement, a Raleigh business litigation lawyer from our firm can help you.

Non-compete agreements must be limited geographically and by time duration. A non-compete agreement cannot restrict a previous employee from competing outside of certain geographical regions or for unrealistic time periods because the court will not enforce such agreements. There are no specific rules regarding the length or geographical spread of a non-compete agreement, instead, the type of job and what is fair to both parties will be considered when determining the boundaries of a non-compete agreement.

Not all employees will need to sign a non-compete agreement upon the termination of their employment. Employees who have enough information about a business to start the same or a similar company may need to sign a confidentiality agreement, stating that they will not use the company’s confidential information to start their own. Employees who will typically be asked to sign non-compete or confidentiality agreements include:

Sales or Service employees who suggest solutions to problems that customers encounter with the business or business's products.
Employees who have knowledge of the mechanics of products sold by a business.
Employees who do research or product development work.
Engineers or drafting employees who do design or engineering work.
Employees in manufacturing, maintenance, and production who oversee or work with the production of machines or other products made by the business.
Employees who do creative work with trade names, advertising and sales promotion of the business or business products.

If you need help drafting or enforcing a non-compete agreement, contact a Raleigh Business Litigation Attorney at the Law Office of Michael W. Hopper today!