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Tell HN: Beware confidentiality agreements that act as lifetime non competes

416 points throwarayes | 2 comments | 21 Jun 25 16:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.43s | source

Just a note of warning from personal experience.

Companies don’t really need non-competes anymore. Some companies take an extremely broad interpretation of IP confidentiality, where they consider doing any work in the industry during your lifetime an inevitable confidentiality violation. They argue it would be impossible for you to work elsewhere in this industry during your entire career without violating confidentiality with the technical and business instincts you bring to that domain. It doesn’t require conscious violation on your part (they argue).

So beware and read your employment agreement carefully.

More here https://www.promarket.org/2024/02/08/confidentiality-agreeme...

And this is the insane legal doctrine behind this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inevitable_disclosure

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stego-tech ◴[21 Jun 25 18:59 UTC] No.44339879[source]▶
Have an employment attorney always look over said agreements before signing. A local acquaintance who did work for an MSP had said MSP try such a ploy, only for the employment attorney to sue and get it thrown out as unreasonable and unenforceable.

Never, EVER sign a contract without reading it first, and having your lawyer review it.

replies(2): >>44339950 #>>44340027 #
iLoveOncall ◴[21 Jun 25 19:08 UTC] No.44339950[source]▶
> your lawyer

That presupposes that people have a lawyer, and one specialized in employment law at that, which is highly unlikely to be the case for 99% of the population.

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1. stego-tech ◴[21 Jun 25 20:51 UTC] No.44340650[source]▶
A good employment law lawyer is A) not at all hard to find in major metros, B) charges reasonable rates for quick turnaround times, and C) is something more people need to have on their side in general, rather than elevating them as some snooty thing only the elite have.

This whole “bUt WhO hAs A lAwYeR” nonsense I’m being blasted with in my comments is exactly why these sorts of contracts, grifts, and scams are allowed to exist and succeed.

Know your rights, get a lawyer, and then share that knowledge with others. It’s Organizing 101 stuff.

replies(1): >>44340908 #
2. ghaff ◴[21 Jun 25 21:36 UTC] No.44340908[source]▶
Yeah, as far as I know, I've never needed one (aside from very routine real estate) but I've had to get a couple lawyers recently for different purposes--through my neighbor. I know lawyers but not in the field I need. Sort of a PITA but just something you need to do sometimes.