I am a home health care assistant working for an agency in PBC. I am very clearly an At-Will employee, as spelled out in every employment agreement I have. My first E.A. included a non-compete that specified, proprietary information, existing clients and

I am a home health care assistant working for an agency in PBC. I am very clearly an At-Will employee, as spelled out in every employment agreement I have. My first E.A. included a non-compete that specified proprietary information, existing clients and existing prospects. Of course reasonable, they have a right to protect their legitamite interests.

Now my employer want to me to sign a new E.A that has a non-compete clause that essentially bans me from home health care after a parting of the ways in any county my employer has a single client.

Is this legal/enforceable?

They are essentially saying I can't work in my industry again if I choose to leave.

In my industry, assignments regularly run out, because clients no longer need services for a variety of reasons.

When that happens my employment simply comes to an end. But this agreement would prohibit me from seeking a new assignment from another agency, forever.

What should I do?

2 answers  |  asked Oct 16, 2015 1:07 PM [EST]  |  applies to Florida

Answers (2)

Phyllis Towzey
Under Florida law a noncompete must be reasonable and an employer must have a legitimate business interest to protect. Generally, agreements for more than 2 years post-employment are deemed unreasonable, so your employer cannot bar you from working in that area "forever." That being said, you should never sign an agreement in the hopes that if you are ever sued the court would refuse to enforce it as unreasonable. It's much better to negotiate a fair agreement, or, if your employer is unwilling to negotiate, find a job elsewhere. The key to a reasonable agreement is that it restricts you from competing with the company in a reasonable defined area for a reasonable period of time. You can try to negotiate with your employer for terms you feel are fair given your circumstances. Of course, you can hire an attorney to negotiate for you or simply to review the agreement and advise you what changes to request from the employer; Doing so, however, will likely cost you from $250 to $500 and even more if some back and forth negotiations with the company's lawyer are involved.

posted by Phyllis Towzey  |  Oct 16, 2015 2:58 PM [EST]
Scott Behren
YOU can hire a lawyer to review and attempt to negotiate the terms so they are not so harsh. They can ask you to sign this type of document to keep working for them. Question will be whether its enforceable if you quit or are fired. Feel free to call or e-mail me if you wish to discuss further.

posted by Scott Behren  |  Oct 16, 2015 2:44 PM [EST]

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