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In California, an employer specifically does not own your side work assuming you don't use any of their physical assets, protected know-how or paid-for time. I

In California, an employer specifically does not own your side work assuming you don't use any of their physical assets, protected know-how or paid-for time. In other words, if it's genuinely side work. There's a specific statute to that effect, and they're required to inform you of same. (I'm not a lawyer either, but I've worked in CA for a long time.)

dragonwriter 11y ago
> In California, an employer specifically does not own your side work assuming you don't use any of their physical assets, protected know-how or paid-for time. Of course, with the exception of explicitly-taken leave, its at least intuitively unclear how one defines any time as not "paid for time" of a salaried employee. (There may be case law that clarifies this, however.)
- angelbob 11y ago
  In practice, you're generally fine if you're not in the office. This may be a harder distinction for remote employees, though. But in general, "salaried" has not been construed to mean "the company owns every minute outside the office."
DrScump 11y ago
I believe that this also means that any signed agreements between employer and employee (some companies used to try this a lot) are null and void. Disclaimer: I'm only a fake doctor, not a lawyer (fake or otherwise).
beambot 11y ago
You're talking about California Labor Code 2870: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=02001-03000&file=2870-2872 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&gr... The gist: Has to be your own time, own resources, and not related to your company's current or anticipated business. It's that last clause that's the kicker. For some companies, it's easy to prove -- e.g. wood working is probably unrelated to Twitter's businesses. For other companies that literally work on everything (eg. Google/Alphabet)... it's a pain in the ass. Also: Many companies make reporting the IP or side work a stipulation of your employment contract -- ostensibly, so they can claim that it is related to their business in some way. It's right there in Code 2871. :) PS: IANAL.
- siberianbear 11y ago
  Yes, this. I consulted with a business attorney in Silicon Valley on this particular issue when I was considering getting a startup going on my own after hours. She basically said that there is enough "gray zone" in what I wanted to do vs. what I was doing for my employer (although I felt they were really distinct areas of computer science) that if my former employer wanted to go after me they could easily bury me in legal BS. Whoever can spend the most on lawyers wins...

dragonwriter 11y ago

> In California, an employer specifically does not own your side work assuming you don't use any of their physical assets, protected know-how or paid-for time. Of course, with the exception of explicitly-taken leave, its at least intuitively unclear how one defines any time as not "paid for time" of a salaried employee. (There may be case law that clarifies this, however.)

angelbob 11y ago
In practice, you're generally fine if you're not in the office. This may be a harder distinction for remote employees, though. But in general, "salaried" has not been construed to mean "the company owns every minute outside the office."

DrScump 11y ago

I believe that this also means that any signed agreements between employer and employee (some companies used to try this a lot) are null and void. Disclaimer: I'm only a fake doctor, not a lawyer (fake or otherwise).

beambot 11y ago

You're talking about California Labor Code 2870: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=02001-03000&file=2870-2872 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&gr... The gist: Has to be your own time, own resources, and not related to your company's current or anticipated business. It's that last clause that's the kicker. For some companies, it's easy to prove -- e.g. wood working is probably unrelated to Twitter's businesses. For other companies that literally work on everything (eg. Google/Alphabet)... it's a pain in the ass. Also: Many companies make reporting the IP or side work a stipulation of your employment contract -- ostensibly, so they can claim that it is related to their business in some way. It's right there in Code 2871. :) PS: IANAL.

siberianbear 11y ago
Yes, this. I consulted with a business attorney in Silicon Valley on this particular issue when I was considering getting a startup going on my own after hours. She basically said that there is enough "gray zone" in what I wanted to do vs. what I was doing for my employer (although I felt they were really distinct areas of computer science) that if my former employer wanted to go after me they could easily bury me in legal BS. Whoever can spend the most on lawyers wins...