Yeah! They'll pay me to do nothing or suffer the consequences!

But what they actually do, is to act as a deterrent for employees thinking about quitting their job in order to join another company that offers better wages/benefits/fun.

 

 

Lets say an evil company... we'll call them EA, has John the talented graphics programmer quit to join ID instead because EA forces him to work 12h a day without compensation. They dont like that, so when they manage to hire Jim the gullible programmer, they make him sign a non-compete so if he quits, hell have to work at McDonalds for 6months before he can work in the game industry again. Thus, Jim knows he will be penalized if he quits so he stays on and works 12h shifts without compensation. EA doesnt do this because they believe Jim will nick their secret Scrotum Engine

Well here in Montreal, it has been known for a while that EA has "stolen" a few employees from Ubisoft. And Ubi has sued a few times. Who's the more "evil"?

 

Companies don't steal employees from each other. Employees decide where they think they will have better working conditions. If they break the NDA by yapping about technology, ideas, projects, etc then the previous employer should sue the employee, not the competitor.

 

The no-compete clause is just another way of protecting a company's assets but it sucks for the employees who just can't stand their working environment.

 

In Canada(Qubec at least) it's 2 years of McDonald's.

Or Subway's!

Or Quiznos!