New Jersey Non-Compete Agreement Attorneys

As a corporate employer in NJ, you have spent hours to train your employees.  As an employee, you have been asked to sign a non-compete agreement or else be "fired”.  How do you protect yourself from employees using their information to compete against you?  As an employee, what rights do you have from oppressive, unreasonable non-compete agreements?  A non-compete agreement in NJ, drafted appropriately, can protect your NJ corporation from employees using or sharing your confidential and proprietary information with your competitors.

Employees of NJ corporations have rights to refuse unconscionable employee restrictions and covenants. At Hanlon Niemann, our attorneys advise employers and employees in avoiding problems that could create liability and legal difficulties later.

Non-Compete Agreement in New Jersey Enforcing a Non-Compete Agreement in New Jersey if You are a New Jersey Corporation

A non-compete agreement, written properly, is enforceable in limited circumstances in New Jersey and can protect your corporation from an employee who wants to join a competitor or provide proprietary or confidential information to a competitor. New Jersey law typically enforces non-compete agreements that meet the following criteria:

     Protects a legitimate business interest

     Does not deprive an employee in NJ of a right to make living

     Does not impose an unreasonable geographical limitation

        on an employee

     Does not remain in effect for an unreasonable amount of time

What Should You Do as an Employee in NJ Who is asked to Sign a Non-Competition Agreement?

Call us right away. Not all employees should be asked to sign a non-compete agreement. Employees who are not upper management in a NJ corporation do not have a unique function in the company typically should not be asked to sign since it is difficult to establish a legitimate business purpose in doing so and may prevent the individual from being able to make a living.

Additionally, if you are an employee who has already been working at a corporation for months or even years and is asked to sign a non-compete, is it enforceable? A non-compete, like any contract, is not enforceable without offering any new compensation or benefit to the employee for signing it. It is important to remember enforceability will depend in part on whether or not a restrictive covenant serves an essential or important corporate interest for the employer and whether some sort of compensation (financial or other) has been given. As an example, asking the President of the company or a key upper management person to sign a non-compete agreement is different than asking a clerical staff person to sign a non-compete; the former can leave the job and find non-competing employment and has access to important private corporate information whereas the latter, in most cases, is not. If an employee is asked to sign a non-compete after they have started work at a company, some sort of compensation or benefit should be offered.

To learn more about non-compete agreements, go to covenantnottocompeteinnj.com (click here).

Employers and Employees: Learn

About Covenant Not to Compete in NJ

If you need advice or have questions on non-compete agreements, call Fredrick P. Niemann toll-free at (855) 376-5291 or e-mail him at fniemann@hnlawfirm.com. Don’t let New Jersey’s complex employment laws keep you from exercising your rights.

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NJ Corporation Attorney