Post-Employment Agreements Overview

There are several types of common post-employment agreements companies may demand of their employees. These agreements vary in their enforceability from state to state. Often times, an employer combines some or all of these restrictive covenants into one agreement. We are happy to discuss with you which types of agreements may be appropriate for your business:

Non-Competition Agreements

This type of agreement generally prohibits employees from competing with their former employers in a specified geographic region for a specified period of time. It does not matter whether the employees are soliciting customers of their former employers -- they simply are prohibited from engaging in competitive activities in the restricted area. The nature of "competitive activity" may be defined in the agreement itself, or left for judicial interpretation.

Non-Solicitation Agreements

This type of agreement generally prohibits employees from soliciting or contacting certain customers of the former employer for a specified period of time. Sometimes these agreements are limited to those customers with whom the employees had contact while working for their former employer.

Anti-Raiding Agreements

This type of agreement generally prohibits an employee from soliciting or encouraging other employees to leave employment. This is generally meant to discourage departing employees from taking valuable staff members with them to their new employment. It also guards against disgruntled ex-employees from attempting to interfere with the existing relationship between a company and its valued employees.

Trade Secret/Confidentiality Agreements

This type of agreement prohibits employees from taking, disclosing, or using any confidential or trade secret information. These types of agreements often apply both during and after the employee’s tenure. And, unlike the other provisions, can often be unlimited in duration. As long as information known by the employee is still not generally known and provides value to the former employer, it cannot be used, divulged or disclosed. Obviously, these types of agreements protect the company from disclosure of its most valuable intangible assets and the list of information prohibited from disclosure includes formulas, designs, methods of production or business, customer lists, customer information, marketing strategies, and other similar closely guarded company secrets.