4 ms·

"Her employment contract might very well include a clause preventing her from leaving a few months later for a job with a rival pest-control firm, since she cou

by nickez 9y ago

"Her employment contract might very well include a clause preventing her from leaving a few months later for a job with a rival pest-control firm, since she could be taking crucial in-house information with her. And that’s perfectly reasonable." What.. How can that be completely reasonable? It might be reasonable if the company isn't allowed to fire her, but as far as I understand it is quite easy to get fired in the US to..

walshemj 9y ago
Its only reasonable if its limited duration and does not stop you plying your trade and she is paid for it
- geebee 9y ago
  The problem is that our legal system almost certainly won't reach that decision quickly and at low cost. Even if she wins, she loses.
  - pmiller2 9y ago
    That, and people aren't typically paid for the time covered by non-competes.
Jtsummers 9y ago
How easy or not it is to be fired varies by state. Right to Work states are the easiest to be dismissed in (fired or laid off, not all dismissals are firings). More union friendly states (NY, CA, WA), it's harder to be dismissed. In almost all states, government jobs are hard to be dismissed from after your initial probationary period (typically 1-3 years). Though sometimes getting to an extreme in cities like NYC where it can be so hard to dismiss a teacher, they just box them up in a teacher version of in-school suspension.
- walshemj 9y ago
  you can still be fired easily for cause or via redundancy one would assume
  - Jtsummers 9y ago
    "Easily" is relative. If you work in a union friendly state and are in a union, cause usually has to be documented and there is often an appeals process. You may also be required to provide an opportunity for the employee to correct their behavior (which they have to document). If they fail to do that, you can dismiss them, if they succeed, you have to start over again when they start screwing up again in a year or two. Pros and cons. I'd rather have the protections of a union than not, but it also allows people to abuse it. In a Right to Work state, you can generally be dismissed very quickly for very little cause, with little recourse.
    - walshemj 9y ago
      from direct experience in the UK which have the protections you mention its still relatively easy to fire for cause gross misconduct even more so.
- Bartweiss 9y ago
  Depressingly, though, states with easy firings are also the states that make noncompete enforcement easy.
- eli_gottlieb 9y ago
  > How easy or not it is to be fired varies by state. Right to Work states are the easiest to be dismissed in (fired or laid off, not all dismissals are firings). More union friendly states (NY, CA, WA), it's harder to be dismissed. All US states have at-will employment, which means that if you don't have a union contract, you can be fired for any reason or no reason. All of them. "Right to work" is a completely different policy question. Nobody except for union workers and some executives in the United States has what other First World countries consider a binding employment contract. All employment in the USA is by the mercy of the employer.

by nickez 9y ago

walshemj 9y ago

Its only reasonable if its limited duration and does not stop you plying your trade and she is paid for it

geebee 9y ago
The problem is that our legal system almost certainly won't reach that decision quickly and at low cost. Even if she wins, she loses.
- pmiller2 9y ago
  That, and people aren't typically paid for the time covered by non-competes.

Jtsummers 9y ago

How easy or not it is to be fired varies by state. Right to Work states are the easiest to be dismissed in (fired or laid off, not all dismissals are firings). More union friendly states (NY, CA, WA), it's harder to be dismissed. In almost all states, government jobs are hard to be dismissed from after your initial probationary period (typically 1-3 years). Though sometimes getting to an extreme in cities like NYC where it can be so hard to dismiss a teacher, they just box them up in a teacher version of in-school suspension.

walshemj 9y ago
you can still be fired easily for cause or via redundancy one would assume
- Jtsummers 9y ago
  "Easily" is relative. If you work in a union friendly state and are in a union, cause usually has to be documented and there is often an appeals process. You may also be required to provide an opportunity for the employee to correct their behavior (which they have to document). If they fail to do that, you can dismiss them, if they succeed, you have to start over again when they start screwing up again in a year or two. Pros and cons. I'd rather have the protections of a union than not, but it also allows people to abuse it. In a Right to Work state, you can generally be dismissed very quickly for very little cause, with little recourse.
  - walshemj 9y ago
    from direct experience in the UK which have the protections you mention its still relatively easy to fire for cause gross misconduct even more so.
Bartweiss 9y ago
Depressingly, though, states with easy firings are also the states that make noncompete enforcement easy.
eli_gottlieb 9y ago
> How easy or not it is to be fired varies by state. Right to Work states are the easiest to be dismissed in (fired or laid off, not all dismissals are firings). More union friendly states (NY, CA, WA), it's harder to be dismissed. All US states have at-will employment, which means that if you don't have a union contract, you can be fired for any reason or no reason. All of them. "Right to work" is a completely different policy question. Nobody except for union workers and some executives in the United States has what other First World countries consider a binding employment contract. All employment in the USA is by the mercy of the employer.