4 ms·

Same here. They rarely if ever enforce it unless you directly compete with your employer.

by jeremiep 10y ago

Sir_Substance 10y ago
Then why not have a clause saying just that?
- jeremiep 10y ago
  That is a good question. I feel most companies do it out of habit (or because everyone else is doing it) and few have stopped to ask themselves whether the literature in the contract makes sense or not. That was the case at the last company I worked for, management was cargo culting a lot of things because "successful companies do it". So we had these contracts to sign, the "if you're not the recipient of this email.." footers, absurd job titles, and the list goes on. Seeing Agile come in was a farce at best.
  - Sir_Substance 10y ago
    >That is a good question. I feel most companies do it out of habit (or because everyone else is doing it) and few have stopped to ask themselves whether the literature in the contract makes sense or not. I agree. I encourage everyone to "mark" their contracts, even if they sign them in the end. I did it on my most recent contract, red pen and all. Read through the whole thing, circled bits and pieces that seemed wrong, or overly burdensome. The message was basically "I am going to sign this, but if I was to reject it, it would be because of /this/ line exactly". It's actually important feedback for the people writing these contracts. Lawyers may not understand the value that side projects have to developers. Remember that law isn't a profession where a side-project could suddenly turn into a fortune. My HR people really warmed to this kind of feedback, and I believe a few clauses were tweaked based on it in newer contracts, even if it didn't make it to me. Give it a try when signing for new jobs. If your HR people get snotty at you for it, you probably don't want to work there anyway.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

4 ms·

Same here. They rarely if ever enforce it unless you directly compete with your employer.

by jeremiep 10y ago

Same here. They rarely if ever enforce it unless you directly compete with your employer.

Sir_Substance 10y ago
Then why not have a clause saying just that?
- jeremiep 10y ago
  That is a good question. I feel most companies do it out of habit (or because everyone else is doing it) and few have stopped to ask themselves whether the literature in the contract makes sense or not. That was the case at the last company I worked for, management was cargo culting a lot of things because "successful companies do it". So we had these contracts to sign, the "if you're not the recipient of this email.." footers, absurd job titles, and the list goes on. Seeing Agile come in was a farce at best.
  - Sir_Substance 10y ago
    >That is a good question. I feel most companies do it out of habit (or because everyone else is doing it) and few have stopped to ask themselves whether the literature in the contract makes sense or not. I agree. I encourage everyone to "mark" their contracts, even if they sign them in the end. I did it on my most recent contract, red pen and all. Read through the whole thing, circled bits and pieces that seemed wrong, or overly burdensome. The message was basically "I am going to sign this, but if I was to reject it, it would be because of /this/ line exactly". It's actually important feedback for the people writing these contracts. Lawyers may not understand the value that side projects have to developers. Remember that law isn't a profession where a side-project could suddenly turn into a fortune. My HR people really warmed to this kind of feedback, and I believe a few clauses were tweaked based on it in newer contracts, even if it didn't make it to me. Give it a try when signing for new jobs. If your HR people get snotty at you for it, you probably don't want to work there anyway.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]