How does not compete affect me if I quit or lose my job?

Under Florida law, non-compete agreements are considered trade restrictions and are interpreted strictly in accordance with our statutes. Non-compete agreements must be considered to support them and must be reasonable in their geographic scope and time limits.

Consideration

The consideration of not competing can be the job, if it is entered at the beginning of the job, otherwise, they usually must have some other consideration, such as an increase in salary or a bonus.

Sanity

Whether non-competition is reasonable in its geographical and temporal scope depends on the specific situation and the interests that must be protected. When I write a non-compete for a business client, I generally include factual explanations of the reasoning for these limitations to guide a court later and improve the applicability of the document.

How does your non-competition affect you?

So if you have a non-compete and have left that job, it depends on the language of the agreement and the particular circumstances of the situation as to what you can and cannot do. For example, if there was a written employment contract and the employer violated that contract, the non-competition linked to it may not be enforceable. However, if there was no such agreement and you resign, then the non-competition may be enforceable as long as it has had the required consideration and its limitations are reasonable.

How Non-Competition Agreements Are Enforced

Whether the limitations on a non-compete are reasonable is generally a factual determination for a judge. For this reason, the non-competition agreements drawn up by the author have the agreed facts incorporated into the document. Without that, the enforcing employer must generally provide separate evidence to prove reasonableness, unless specifically deemed reasonable by law.

Agreements that limit future employment for one year or less and are generally automatically reasonable. Those that are between one and two years after employment are usually enforced. Agreements that go beyond two years after employment are subject to review by our courts. That’s not to say that an employer can’t have a five-year no-compete, it’s just that there has to be a legally valid reason to impose such a restriction on a former employee.

Non-compete agreements can also be temporarily suspended if violated. A series of cases in Florida determined that if a party subject to valid non-compete violates the agreement, the employer is not getting the full benefit of the limitation during the breach, so while this continues, the limitations are generally suspended until non-compliance stops. . The non-competition then restarts from that point until it runs its course.

What you can and cannot do depends on the agreement you signed and the particular circumstances. Non-compete agreements can also be married to non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements that will also restrict the use of knowledge acquired during employment. Non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements are not subject to the same limitations as non-compete agreements, and are often much more extensive as they are designed to protect private company information.

Resume

The best thing you can do is consult with a Board certified expert in business litigation or labor and employment law before you, as an employee, take action that may hold you liable or before you, as an employer, submit a contract of no competition or no competition. -Disclosure to an employee to sign. You can easily find these experts through the Florida Bar or local Bar Associations such as the Palm Beach County Bar Association.

As an employer, if you suspect that a former employee subject to non-compete, non-solicitation, or nondisclosure is violating the agreement, your best initial action is to consult with a Board-certified expert in business or employment litigation. and labor law. You need to know your rights and how the legal process enforces these agreements.

What you don’t want to do is draft these important documents on your own only to find out later that they cannot be enforced, allowing your former employee to freely compete with your business armed with the knowledge and experience your business brought them. . Be smart, plan ahead, and consult with a Florida Bar certified expert in commercial litigation.