We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to develop a non-compete agreement template (Word and PDF) to help protect you from rising competition in your area.
We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to develop a non-compete agreement template (Word and PDF) to help protect you from rising competition in your area.
What’s in this template?Many service businesses have proprietary trade secrets, client contact lists, and business processes. These same companies also take the time to recruit and train the best possible talent to help grow their business.
However, bringing on new team members leaves businesses vulnerable, as employees may decide to work for a competitor taking all of their experience, contacts, and knowledge of your organization.
A non-compete agreement is a formal contract between employers and employees that enforces restrictions on employees if they decide to join competing businesses.
For example, former employees may be restricted from working with competitors in the same geographical location for a defined period.
Another example could be that business partners decide to terminate their relationship and agree to not compete against each other for a specific period.
Not all non-compete agreements are enforceable and are at the discretion of your state regulations. Governments will only support non-compete contracts if they’re considered reasonable.
If you want to learn more about how non-compete agreements work, check out the video below.
DISCLAIMER: We are not lawyers or a law firm and we do not provide legal, business or tax advice. We recommend you consult a lawyer or other appropriate professional before using any templates or agreements from this website.
Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of what a non-compete agreement is and when to present it to employees for the best results.
As you grow your business, you’ll likely need to use non-competes over and over again. That’s why we’ve developed this template to help save you countless hours and paperwork so you can efficiently scale your business while maintaining your competitive edge.
Click below to access our free template todayNon-compete agreements need to be treated with the utmost care and transparency to communicate with employees in a relatively non-confrontational manner. Below are three best practices we’ve identified when using a standard non-compete form.
Depending on your industry, non-compete contracts may be expected by employees. But you never want to assume.
As soon as you hire a new team member, or better yet, before they’re employed, have the conversation about how your business addresses non-compete terms.
In addition to explaining how non-competes work, take the time to explain why you’ve implemented these measures. If anything, explaining the importance of non-competes is an opportunity to show prospective employees how committed your business is to thrive in your marketplace.
When presenting your employee non-compete agreement template, ask your team if they have any questions about the contract before signing.
By setting expectations and seeking clarification from your team before signing the contract, you’ve made every reasonable attempt to remain transparent about restrictions of non-competes, which will help limit any future disputes.
Perhaps the most crucial decision you’ll need to make with your non compete template is your restraint period.
Ultimately your restraint period is going to depend on your state laws and industry.With that said, a reasonable period is often considered to be anywhere from six months to two years. Again, depending on the industry.
We recommend you do some research to see what is considered a reasonable restraint period for your industry.
You’ll likely be recruiting employees into roles, either externally or internally. The pathway will determine when you present your non-compete contract. For example, if you hire an external candidate, you’ll offer your agreement as part of the external onboarding process.
However, if you’re recruiting a candidate from an unrelated department into a role that could influence your competitive advantage, you’ll need to introduce your agreement when you start your internal onboarding program.
Alternatively, you may decide that a non-compete agreement is required for all employees across your organization. In this case, you could package your non-compete template with your standard employment agreements.
Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of what a non-compete agreement is and when to present it to employees for the best results.
As you grow your business, you’ll likely need to use non-competes over and over again. That’s why we’ve developed this template to help save you countless hours and paperwork so you can efficiently scale your business while maintaining your competitive edge.
