4 ms·

Be careful, many contracts contain parts that give full ownership of what you make on company time to your employer. You might loose your dream if you are not c

Be careful, many contracts contain parts that give full ownership of what you make on company time to your employer. You might loose your dream if you are not careful.

dsr_ 9y ago
This. Go re-read your terms of employment right now.
- extrapickles 9y ago
  Even if you are allowed to moonlight, make sure you are not using your employers equipment (eg: laptop, internet, etc) to do so. They can claim partial ownership for providing them to you.
tw1010 9y ago
Some contracts even give ownership of what you create on your free time to the company.
- Klathmon 9y ago
  Which is illegal in some areas, even if your contract says it, so as always make sure you know your rights.
  - narrator 9y ago
    In California employers can't claim ownership of work done off the clock[1]. Non-competes are also not enforceable generally in California[2]. [1]. http://law.onecle.com/california/labor/2870.html http://law.onecle.com/california/labor/2870.html [2].https://www.tradesecretsandtransitions.com/2017/01/california-further-restricts-employers-from-trying-to-enforce-non-compete-agreements/ https://www.tradesecretsandtransitions.com/2017/01/californi...
    - tw1010 9y ago
      Are non-enforceable non-competes a recent thing?
      - toast0 9y ago
        If you've been working in California for California employers, you've probably seen non-competes that prevent working for a competitor concurrently with that employer. I believe those are enforceable. What is often presented in other states is an agreement to not work for competitors that extends for maybe 6 months to 2 years after employment; that's not generally enforceable in California, except with some specific exceptions, generally around when a business owner sells their business. This has been the case for many years, through judicial review as well as legislation.
  - burntwater 9y ago
    I'm curious what places would make the contract invalid considering the work is being done on-the-clock and likely on company equipment.
- alkonaut 9y ago
  I know it's common, but I can't imagine those often hold up in court (assuming the work was completely unrelated, no employer hardware, knowledge, hours etc were used).
  - derekp7 9y ago
    In general, the contract is phrased as "Work that relates to activities and business that the employer is currently involved in, or may become involved in in the future". So if you work for a large company that has many businesses, almost anything you invent could be related to some area they are involved in. However enforcement is relatively rare. Edit: I found an article on Slashdot that I remember reading at the time, which scared the crap out of me. About a programmer that made a bunch of GPL code on his own time, but his employer stole it back. https://developers.slashdot.org/story/02/03/21/0139244/beware-employment-contracts https://developers.slashdot.org/story/02/03/21/0139244/bewar...
hennsen 9y ago
Interesting idea, would actually be funny if they can prove he wrote all the coide for his suddenly supersuccessful startup on their paid time and get a great percentage or all of the shares... "We've been a bit unhappy about your performance for our main project but happy you created a more successful one for us..."
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- dccoolgai 9y ago
  Management daydreaming. In reality there are 2 possibilities: the startup is either successful or it's not. In the former case, he'll hire his own better lawyers and bury their claim. In the latter, it's not worth their time. As long as you're not using their equipment and don't give them a way to prove you were using their time, they won't have a leg to stand on to make that claim (even if your employment contract has language that looks scary to an engineer with no legal background).
rajangdavis 9y ago
This right here. Some contracts will have a section regarding intellectual property, you either have to list everything you want to keep and make updates as needed or your employer can claim your IP especially if it is within the same realm of the work you do for your employer.
- icedchai 9y ago
  They won’t be able to claim what they don’t know about. My advice the the OP is keep your mouth shut and don’t draw attention to yourself. Unfortunately you already posted...

Be careful, many contracts contain parts that give full ownership of what you make on company time to your employer. You might loose your dream if you are not careful.

dsr_ 9y ago

This. Go re-read your terms of employment right now.

extrapickles 9y ago
Even if you are allowed to moonlight, make sure you are not using your employers equipment (eg: laptop, internet, etc) to do so. They can claim partial ownership for providing them to you.

tw1010 9y ago

Some contracts even give ownership of what you create on your free time to the company.

Klathmon 9y ago
Which is illegal in some areas, even if your contract says it, so as always make sure you know your rights.
- narrator 9y ago
  In California employers can't claim ownership of work done off the clock[1]. Non-competes are also not enforceable generally in California[2]. [1]. http://law.onecle.com/california/labor/2870.html http://law.onecle.com/california/labor/2870.html [2].https://www.tradesecretsandtransitions.com/2017/01/california-further-restricts-employers-from-trying-to-enforce-non-compete-agreements/ https://www.tradesecretsandtransitions.com/2017/01/californi...
  - tw1010 9y ago
    Are non-enforceable non-competes a recent thing?
    - toast0 9y ago
      If you've been working in California for California employers, you've probably seen non-competes that prevent working for a competitor concurrently with that employer. I believe those are enforceable. What is often presented in other states is an agreement to not work for competitors that extends for maybe 6 months to 2 years after employment; that's not generally enforceable in California, except with some specific exceptions, generally around when a business owner sells their business. This has been the case for many years, through judicial review as well as legislation.
- burntwater 9y ago
  I'm curious what places would make the contract invalid considering the work is being done on-the-clock and likely on company equipment.
alkonaut 9y ago
I know it's common, but I can't imagine those often hold up in court (assuming the work was completely unrelated, no employer hardware, knowledge, hours etc were used).
- derekp7 9y ago
  In general, the contract is phrased as "Work that relates to activities and business that the employer is currently involved in, or may become involved in in the future". So if you work for a large company that has many businesses, almost anything you invent could be related to some area they are involved in. However enforcement is relatively rare. Edit: I found an article on Slashdot that I remember reading at the time, which scared the crap out of me. About a programmer that made a bunch of GPL code on his own time, but his employer stole it back. https://developers.slashdot.org/story/02/03/21/0139244/beware-employment-contracts https://developers.slashdot.org/story/02/03/21/0139244/bewar...

hennsen 9y ago

Interesting idea, would actually be funny if they can prove he wrote all the coide for his suddenly supersuccessful startup on their paid time and get a great percentage or all of the shares... "We've been a bit unhappy about your performance for our main project but happy you created a more successful one for us..."

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
dccoolgai 9y ago
Management daydreaming. In reality there are 2 possibilities: the startup is either successful or it's not. In the former case, he'll hire his own better lawyers and bury their claim. In the latter, it's not worth their time. As long as you're not using their equipment and don't give them a way to prove you were using their time, they won't have a leg to stand on to make that claim (even if your employment contract has language that looks scary to an engineer with no legal background).

rajangdavis 9y ago

This right here. Some contracts will have a section regarding intellectual property, you either have to list everything you want to keep and make updates as needed or your employer can claim your IP especially if it is within the same realm of the work you do for your employer.

icedchai 9y ago
They won’t be able to claim what they don’t know about. My advice the the OP is keep your mouth shut and don’t draw attention to yourself. Unfortunately you already posted...