I had to sign a similar agreement after working for my company for two years.  I
sell shipboard electronics and that is a pretty narrow field that I have worked
hard at to make a name for myself.  I could work in another field, but I have
been doing this since I graduated with a degree in another field and it would
take a few years after a career change to get back to the position I am in now.
I was understandably upset about signing an agreement that would essentially
cause me to have to change fields if I ever left my job for any reason.

The first thing I did is insist on changing the contract to a three year term
instead of the forever terms they proposed.  This gives me a way to get out afte
r
a while if I choose to.  The expiration date is also coming up soon and I don't
expect that they will even remember ad have me renew it.  If they do make me
renew it I at least have an opportunity to renegotiate.

I also had them put in a clause to give me six months severence pay if I am fire
d
without a good cause.  Definitions of valid causes are nice, but I just wanted
the right to fight if they do fire me.  I also had put in that the agreement
would become void if they ever reduced my salary.  If I have to renew I will
either get the raise I want or have some clause for regular salary increases in
the contract.

Good luck and try to look at it from their point of view and think about what
parts of the contract are important to them that they won't move on and what
things they just threw in while they wrote it that cause you heartburn, but may
not be important to them that they wil change.

Peter Roberts wrote:

> I know this is off topic, but I thought, since a number of the people on this
> list are employed as engineers, we would benefit from this discussion.
>
> Here's the situation.  After 8 years at my current employer, my boss throws
> this non-compete/non-disclosure agreement in front of me.  Needless to say,
> it was written to totally protect him, with very little (if any ) concern for
> my welfare.
>
> Now I have to re-write it to protect myself before signing it.  I understand
> his desire to protect his investment, but it seems that bosses have a hard
> time understanding that we as engineers also have an investment in the years
> spent working for our employers.  No matter what anyone says, Engineers who
> are employees do not think or behave like "normal" employees.  They have a
> much more personal interest in and professional stake in what they do.
>
> The history of the company is that it is a small company with a dozen
> employees who make custom sub-assemblies for our customers.  We do not
> restrict ourselves to any industry or field.  We will design and build
> anything for anybody.  Needless to say, to agree to not compete against this
> type of company , precludes you from working in any of the industries of any
> of the current customers.  This can get quite broad and therefore quite
> limiting for an engineer.
>
> Does anyone have any advise on how I can protect myself? Has anyone here had
> to sign similiar agreements. Is there a source of sample contracts that are
> more balanced, or favor the engineer?
>
> Looking forward to the discussion
>
> Peter