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

416 points throwarayes | 3 comments | 21 Jun 25 16:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.3s | 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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dakiol ◴[21 Jun 25 19:21 UTC] No.44340052[source]▶
In some countries that's illegal. So when presented with a contract that contains such claims, I have 2 options:

1) ask them to remove it... and so I risk not getting the job

2) don't say anything, and sign it

If I'm really interested in the job, I'll go for option 2 because I know they cannot enforce such claims, so I'll be fine.

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bartvk ◴[22 Jun 25 08:09 UTC] No.44344961[source]▶
There's option 3, and that's: don't say anything, strike some passages and sign it.

Whether that's a good idea, that depends on the circumstances but I'm just noting it as an option.

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1. throwaway2037 ◴[22 Jun 25 11:23 UTC] No.44345985[source]▶

    > strike some passages and sign it
Oh my god: This is utter nonsense. They weren't kidding when they said don't take legal advice from randos on the InterWebs. Most companies outsource their employment contract authoring to an external law firm, then have (internal) senior HR go over your signed copy with a fine-toothed comb to catch exactly these kinds of "tricks". If your company is that stupid to allow it, then you don't worry about the shitty (potentially unenforcable) clauses in your employment contract.
replies(1): >>44346799 #
2. hedora ◴[22 Jun 25 13:27 UTC] No.44346799[source]▶
That’s not really a trick. It’s how contract law has worked for years.

Of course, doing it without telling the new employer is a great way to get an offer rescinded.

Also, if you modify it after the other side signed, then you’ll want them to initial the changes.

If you modified it, then they signed without noticing the modifications, then I guess ask a lawyer.

I don’t see what outsourcing has to do with it. If they have power of attorney to an external HR firm, that seems like their problem. (I’ve never encountered a company dumb enough to do that though.)

replies(1): >>44348319 #
3. SoftTalker ◴[22 Jun 25 16:47 UTC] No.44348319[source]▶
Since it would be difficult to prove when changes/strike-outs occured relative to signatures, any such changes to the pre-printed agreement should be initialed by all parties.