5 ms·

non-compete laws seem like something out of a gilded age nightmare. Saying an employee is not allowed to work in their industry even when they quit is absurd. I

non-compete laws seem like something out of a gilded age nightmare. Saying an employee is not allowed to work in their industry even when they quit is absurd. It is totally pro-employer and extremely anti-employee. How these laws are even around in the 21st century in the US is beyond me. Glad CO took a step to stop this horrific practice.

londons_explore 5y ago
They seem fine to me... But the employer should pay 24x7 hourly overtime rates for the entirely of the time the non-compete applies for...
- ramphastidae 5y ago
  The way I’ve seen it work in finance is that you are basically given one year’s salary and benefits up front in exchange for not working anywhere for one year. I’d take that.
  - jsonne 5y ago
    That seems actually pretty reasonable tbh. I'm not a fan of non competes generally but that seems like a fair tradeoff
    - whack 5y ago
      If you're having the non-compete enforced against you by a Hedge Fund, there's a good chance that 65% of your total compensation is in the form of bonuses. So getting "just your salary" would amount to a 65% pay cut. On the flip side, you're still getting paid 6 figures to relax, recharge, travel the world and have fun. I would personally love it. But my ex-colleagues feel very differently
  - lsaferite 5y ago
    While that's at least "fair" in an immediate monetary sense, it's still a bad deal at the end of the day. You've now been out of your industry for a year when you go back and your value has dropped as a result.
    - uxp100 5y ago
      Not really. As far as I know (just from reading Matt Levine) everyone knows about these policies, everyone has gaps like this due to gardening leave, and so it's completely expected and does not "drop your value"
charcircuit 5y ago
>Saying an employee is not allowed to work in their industry even when they quit is absurd A noncompete does not ban you from working in the industry. Typically it only restricts you from working on competing products. You are only being banned for a period of time from a small part of the giant space of the tech industry.
- toomanydoubts 5y ago
  Untrue. I've seen non competes like "you can't work with any company that's a potential competitor". That's for a software engineer working in a software development agency. Had I signed it, it would keep me out of like 75% of the companies I could work for. Besides, even in situations where this is not the case, it's still absurd. Companies are all like "free market, supply and demand and bla bla bla" until it goes against them. If you wanna be a capitalist, then be accept capitalism as it should be: a great competition.
  - namlem 5y ago
    Businesses hate capitalism. Capitalism forces them to compete, and competition is hard. What they want is a restricted market that keeps out competitors and entrenches their position.
    - jessaustin 5y ago
      Capitalists (i.e., those who own the capital) hate competition. They love to buy regulations and other restraints of trade that keep out competitors and entrench their positions. This occurs in every capitalist society, everywhere, always. So, it's somewhat misleading that their philosophy pretends to value what they hate. I wish there were good terms for what we sometimes think we mean when we say "capitalism". "Free market" seems good, but the word "capitalism" often shows up in the definition...
      - namlem 5y ago
        Perhaps "economic liberalism" is a more precise term for what I meant.

londons_explore 5y ago

They seem fine to me... But the employer should pay 24x7 hourly overtime rates for the entirely of the time the non-compete applies for...

ramphastidae 5y ago
The way I’ve seen it work in finance is that you are basically given one year’s salary and benefits up front in exchange for not working anywhere for one year. I’d take that.
- jsonne 5y ago
  That seems actually pretty reasonable tbh. I'm not a fan of non competes generally but that seems like a fair tradeoff
  - whack 5y ago
    If you're having the non-compete enforced against you by a Hedge Fund, there's a good chance that 65% of your total compensation is in the form of bonuses. So getting "just your salary" would amount to a 65% pay cut. On the flip side, you're still getting paid 6 figures to relax, recharge, travel the world and have fun. I would personally love it. But my ex-colleagues feel very differently
- lsaferite 5y ago
  While that's at least "fair" in an immediate monetary sense, it's still a bad deal at the end of the day. You've now been out of your industry for a year when you go back and your value has dropped as a result.
  - uxp100 5y ago
    Not really. As far as I know (just from reading Matt Levine) everyone knows about these policies, everyone has gaps like this due to gardening leave, and so it's completely expected and does not "drop your value"

charcircuit 5y ago

>Saying an employee is not allowed to work in their industry even when they quit is absurd A noncompete does not ban you from working in the industry. Typically it only restricts you from working on competing products. You are only being banned for a period of time from a small part of the giant space of the tech industry.

toomanydoubts 5y ago
Untrue. I've seen non competes like "you can't work with any company that's a potential competitor". That's for a software engineer working in a software development agency. Had I signed it, it would keep me out of like 75% of the companies I could work for. Besides, even in situations where this is not the case, it's still absurd. Companies are all like "free market, supply and demand and bla bla bla" until it goes against them. If you wanna be a capitalist, then be accept capitalism as it should be: a great competition.
- namlem 5y ago
  Businesses hate capitalism. Capitalism forces them to compete, and competition is hard. What they want is a restricted market that keeps out competitors and entrenches their position.
  - jessaustin 5y ago
    Capitalists (i.e., those who own the capital) hate competition. They love to buy regulations and other restraints of trade that keep out competitors and entrench their positions. This occurs in every capitalist society, everywhere, always. So, it's somewhat misleading that their philosophy pretends to value what they hate. I wish there were good terms for what we sometimes think we mean when we say "capitalism". "Free market" seems good, but the word "capitalism" often shows up in the definition...
    - namlem 5y ago
      Perhaps "economic liberalism" is a more precise term for what I meant.