Non-Compete Agreement - Anyone Used One?

[atl_hunter]

I have signed multiple non-competes throughout my career, and in my state they are, indeed, enforceable. Since I am an ethical employee, I have no issues signing them. Why, you might ask?

1. I would never dream of taking our customer lists and soliciting business from them. That list belongs to the company I work for and to their brand. This is no different to the horse industry.

2. I have signed NDAs as I should not be able to disclose sensitive information about my company. If you are a professional and ethical employee, you should have no issue with this. I would welcome a barn that was so organized they had these in place. I would not want someone posting images of my injured horse on FB or IG, for example, without my permission to show services like therapy, etc… when my horse is injured. I also do not want the price I paid for a horse to be public. The details should be private.

3. If I was given the opportunity to learn from a trainer, to assist them, to work under their brand, OF COURSE I would not dream of poaching their clients to start my own program. I have observed this here in my state several times, and what I have seen is the “visiting trainer” or “assistant trainer” move in, start drama, takeover the customers, offer significantly reduced pricing initially to further attract the customer, and in one bizarre case even load up a trailer of customer horses and leave in the night. A professional and ethical individual would do no such thing. The horses were not at risk - it was pure control and drama over a starstruck client. A customer who follows such a character is also no loss IMO. But the financial loss to the trainer that took this individual in was quite huge. If I didn’t see it happen so many times I might think differently, but when I see a person refuse to sign I have to wonder what their intentions truly are. If you want to be so badly on your own in the area, why not hang out your own shingle in the first place? Because you need a base…

4. Why is it such a big deal to negotiate a non-compete with reasonable terms? Why not a 20-30 mile radius for 1 year, for example, with an exception that it is void if the person is fired by said trainer? This is a standard situation in business - don’t we expect our trainers to also be professional and ethical? Maybe some customers will travel to the new trainer and some will not. But the whole point is to use your brand and talent to build your business, not to let your employer build a business that you then take. If you are so good and your customers love you so much, they will travel the 20-30 miles in the interim to go to you.

I would never judge a trainer for having a non-compete. I would think instead that perhaps this trainer actually understands business, and maybe even dare I say is a professional who expect the staff to behave ethically and professionally?

[NoSuchPerson]

@atl_hunter

1. I would never dream of taking our customer lists and soliciting business from them. That list belongs to the company I work for and to their brand. This is no different to the horse industry…

2. If I was given the opportunity to learn from a trainer, to assist them, to work under their brand, OF COURSE I would not dream of poaching their clients to start my own program. I have observed this here in my state several times, and what I have seen is the “visiting trainer” or “assistant trainer” move in, start drama, takeover the customers, offer significantly reduced pricing initially to further attract the customer, and in one bizarre case even load up a trailer of customer horses and leave in the night. A professional and ethical individual would do no such thing. The horses were not at risk - it was pure control and drama over a starstruck client. A customer who follows such a character is also no loss IMO. But the financial loss to the trainer that took this individual in was quite huge. If I didn’t see it happen so many times I might think differently, but when I see a person refuse to sign I have to wonder what their intentions truly are. If you want to be so badly on your own in the area, why not hang out your own shingle in the first place? Because you need a base…

3. Why is it such a big deal to negotiate a non-compete with reasonable terms? Why not a 20-30 mile radius for 1 year, for example, with an exception that it is void if the person is fired by said trainer? This is a standard situation in business - don’t we expect our trainers to also be professional and ethical? Maybe some customers will travel to the new trainer and some will not. But the whole point is to use your brand and talent to build your business, not to let your employer build a business that you then take. If you are so good and your customers love you so much, they will travel the 20-30 miles in the interim to go to you.

I would never judge a trainer for having a non-compete. I would think instead that perhaps this trainer actually understands business, and maybe even dare I say is a professional who expect the staff to behave ethically and professionally?

I think you’re talking black and white when in most cases, the picture is gray.

Personally, I would not sign a simple non-compete agreement. It has nothing to do with my moral character (or lack thereof) and everything to do with my many observations of good jobs going bad, good bosses being replaced by bad ones, and the development of toxic work environments. If things go bad at my current job, I want the freedom to leave and find another job in whatever location I wish.

If someone asked me to sign a non-compete agreement, I would sign a very specific agreement. That agreement would include an exclusion for any changes in employment conditions. If I get a new boss, if my position is changed, if the working environment changes, and I want to leave as a result, then the non-compete agreement is null and void. And of course, an exclusion for getting fired. To me, it’s got to be a two-way agreement. You want me to agree to a non-compete, then you agree to continue to provide me with the job, opportunities, and working environment that you told me I was getting.

I’ll also note that if staff changes and working conditions at a barn have gone bad, prompting a trainer to leave, it’s silly to blame that trainer for boarders leaving. If things are unpleasant enough to cause a trainer to leave, they may well be unpleasant enough for some of the boarders to want to leave, as well.

Something that I think is fairly common and that I would sign is an agreement that once you give notice, you no longer communicate directly with clients.

[OverandOnward]

As non-compete and non-disclosure agreements become ever more widespread outside the horse industry, it has to be expected that the horse industry will begin to follow the trend. Especially as those agreements become more familiar to both sides.

“I would never sign one” becomes a barrier to finding work in one’s chosen field in areas and fields where these agreements become the norm. That’s likely to be years away in the horse biz, probably. But it may be that it becomes a barrier to working in certain geographic areas and certain levels of barns, should the agreements become more common in those areas.

It would be a great idea for industry publications to begin adding some articles about these agreements. Things such as considering both sides of the contract - if there is a non-compete, ask for an exclusivity clause as well, and have the wording that you want to use. That kind of thing.

[TWH_Girl]

@katie16

Thanks for the “heads up”. I have checked, and they are legal in my state.

I am not looking to prevent someone who should leave my employment from pursuing the same work elsewhere. Just trying to help minimize the possibility of them walking out the door and setting up shop just down the road and taking a bunch of clients they were training at my place with them. If they want to leave, and then set up shop down the road in a year or so, so be it.

Free market. Why should you get to determine who does what, and where? Don’t want competition than do it better than anyone else can.