As a business owner and employer, you know the importance of running your company in a unique and efficient manner. In order to do so, you may have come up with certain trade secrets that allow your business to stand out from other competitors in the same industry. Because the leaking of vital information can prove detrimental to your company, you likely want to take steps to protect your trade secrets as best as possible.
In order to add an extra layer of protection, you may consider creating a non-compete agreement. By creating this type of agreement and having your employees sign it, you may have less worry when it comes to former employees spilling secrets to competitors.
Need for the agreement
When considering a non-compete contract, you want to ensure that reason exists to have your employees sign the agreement. Because the terms of the document can prevent them from working for certain competitors for a period of time, having a valid need for the agreement can prevent issues later. If you simply create a contract without any specific information to keep safe, you may unnecessarily punish former employees, which could lead to conflict.
Employee benefit
Because having another person agree to limit his or her future job prospects can prove difficult, offering some sort of incentive to the employee can help create a mutually beneficial arrangement. For instance, if you want a new employee to sign a non-compete agreement, he or she may do so because taking such action provides an avenue to much sought after employment. For individuals who have already been employed for some time, offering a pay raise or promotion could act as enough incentive for them to sign.
Reasonable terms
While drafting your agreement, you also want to ensure that you have reasonable terms. You can hardly expect an employee to sign a contract that limits job prospects for a substantial period of time or in an unreasonably wide area. Additionally, even if an employee does sign the agreement, he or she could fight against the document later, and a court could potentially invalidate the contract if the terms seem too broad.
Creating your agreement
Because you undoubtedly want to ensure that the terms of your non-compete agreement remain enforceable, you may wish to consult with an experienced legal professional when drafting it. A Nevada attorney can offer advice on specific terms and tell you how to keep your contract from becoming too broad or otherwise unenforceable.