It's a standard attempt. It's not completely widespread, fortunately. The company is a for-profit entity and as such will try to extract the maximum value possi

It's a standard attempt. It's not completely widespread, fortunately. The company is a for-profit entity and as such will try to extract the maximum value possible out of every resource, including its employees, therefore the contract you're given has the most restrictive possible clauses in it. I've even seen contracts for freelancers that stipulated that the freelancer agrees to reimburse the company for any unrealised profits from the project; i.e. we expect we'll make X$ profit, but we make Y$ profit, therefore you agree to pay us X-Y$. There is no body or union (yet) that looks out for your rights, that's your personal responsibility. You have to negotiate terms you can agree to, or if you can't, either sign the contract and look for another employment opportunity, or not sign the contract and do the same. I suggest taking a negotiation course and maybe a business course, so you know how the company thinks. It's unfortunate, but during contract negotiation, you and the company are essentially enemies, battling for opposite things. It's also unfortunate that you'll never get the chance to practise contract negotiation as an employee. You only do that when you're doing the final negotiation of taking a job, while the person against you does it nearly every single day. I suggest taking a lawyer with you. Or just sign the contract and pay no attention to that clause. Even if they sue you (and that's really rare), the damages you have to pay would probably be less than the effort and legal fees you would pay to negotiate a favourable contract. That part of the contract is basically jaywalking - nobody cares if you don't inconvenience traffic.