Can You Be Fired for Not Signing a Non-compete Agreement
Fired for Refusing to Sign a Non-Compete Agreement?
You May Have a Wrongful Termination Case.
Employers institute non-compete agreements for a multifariousness of reasons, mainly to prohibit employees with critical information on the visitor to accept clients or ideas to competitors. Agreements tin be narrow in prohibiting only straight pilfering of clients, inquiry, and employees or extremely broad in prohibiting employees from working in the same field for a directly competitor anywhere in the US.
If y'all refused to sign the agreement and were later terminated, you could have a case for wrongful termination.
How Do I Know if I Have a Example?
While Florida is an at-will state, pregnant an employee can be fired at any fourth dimension with little to no cause, employees cannot be fired for whistleblowing or turning in a company for violating a public policy. An overly broad not-compete is considered a violation of public policy, thus an employee who is unwilling to sign information technology is non violating visitor policy, and is protected by country public policy. The employee cannot be terminated as an human activity of retaliation.
The non-compete agreement must not restrict merchandise/competition or the rights of the employee to earn a living, merely merely serve every bit a safeguard for proprietary information of the visitor. An employment rights' attorney can assistance yous sympathise the departure with a quick review of the not-compete agreement.
Sometimes employers shy away from firing employees for refusing to sign a noncompete or other employee contract and instead create a hostile work environment in the hopes that person volition exit on their ain. Adverse employment deportment may besides exist experienced by the employee, including simply non limited to, being passed over for promotions, existence reassigned to a less desirable department or one that doesn't earn commission, and/or existence assigned less lucrative or lower profile projects.
Non-compete Agreements May Be Considered Naught and Void if…
There are several means an employee contract of this sort tin can exist negated. As mentioned above, if it is overly broad and unfairly hinders an employee's power to observe work in his/her field, it can be contested. The employer must have a legitimate business concern interest in having the employee sign the agreement. That means that low-level clerical staff, who do not participate in major decisions for the company, are not subject to agreements. Every bit another example, an accounting software company cannot keep a salesperson from selling other forms of software, non related to their production or industry.
If a company is requiring you sign an understanding to protect their client list, that list cannot be available to the public, such as a bedroom of commerce directory.
Likewise, if part of the contract included a stipulation on unpaid wages or commission and those amounts were not paid out, the employee is relieved of all obligations under the contract.
Agreements cannot be for an inordinate, or punishing, period of time. 2 years is standard and some courts have allowed 3, only anything longer than that is considered unreasonable.
If you feel you've been wrongfully terminated, or accept questions regarding your not-compete agreement or employment rights, contact Wenzel, Fenton, Cabassa P.A. today to schedule your free consultation.
Source: https://www.wenzelfenton.com/blog/2014/10/20/fired-for-refusing-to-sign-a-non-compete-agreement/
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