Nondisclosure/noncompete employee agreement

evo

evo

Been here much more than a while
Location
My Island, WA
I'm wondering if any of you have a nondisclosure/noncompete agreement with any of their emloyees. On normal day to day operations in basic arboriculture it doesn't bother me too much with field workers. Currently though I'm looking at building a new business model and focus, not only that I'm looking at hiring a remote office assistant. It will be essential for them to look at all my client records, quotes, addresses, job descriptions, etc.. Much more data than I'd ever give a typical employee access to.
I also want to help this person build a model that they can expand upon for themselves. If they choose to they could use this format and pick up any number of service based industries as clients..

IF you have one, mind sharing it with me? (yes I do see the irony)
 
Is this a 3rd party you are looking to hire (as in, contracting with an agency as opposed to outright hiring a person)? If so, I'd suspect NDAs are standard fare. Think, for example, medical records transcription. Many doctors contract with 3rd parties to do this. Obviously, those records need to be kept private. Certainly seek legal council to make sure that is good.

Personally, I don't see the issue with noncompete. I wouldn't sign one and wouldn't ask somebody else to. Nondisclosure, however, yes. You need to keep your records private. Both to protect your business and to protect the privacy of your clients.
 
ATH said:
Is this a 3rd party you are looking to hire (as in, contracting with an agency as opposed to outright hiring a person)? If so, I'd suspect NDAs are standard fare. Think, for example, medical records transcription. Many doctors contract with 3rd parties to do this. Obviously, those records need to be kept private. Certainly seek legal council to make sure that is good.

Personally, I don't see the issue with noncompete. I wouldn't sign one and wouldn't ask somebody else to. Nondisclosure, however, yes. You need to keep your records private. Both to protect your business and to protect the privacy of your clients.
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A friend of mine has been doing anti piracy agreements. Basically if you steal our clients, you owe us a huge portion of the revenue from said clients for x number of years. Seems to work for him but he's not in tree care. I thought it was kinda interesting.
 
Belay is a company that specializes in virtual assistants, so they’re set up to protect your info from the start. I’m no or sure of pricing, but they seem super solid.

And yes, I see the irony in their name ;)
 
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Unfortunately non-competes typically co not hold up in court. That is what a lawyer told me that when I was asked to sign one for a previous employer. It is due to restrict of trade. In other words it affects their ability to find other employment. That does not mean you cannot try.

Now an agreement to not share confidential information is a contract. It would be enforceable and would hold up in court.
 
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I don’t want to limit anyone to earn a living, in any way. In fact I want to support this person to develop a model that they can use to start up their own business. I very simply would have a preference for them not to work with a local competitor while also on my clock. All interior details, plans, and how I specifically operate as well as client communication is to remain strictly confidential. However, I can care less if she takes this model and recommends the same systems I use to others (just not local competitors).
 
What you want is a confidentiality agreement. In it specify what is not to be shared and the area that it should not be shared both in miles and specify the industry(ies) that it cannot be shared and length of the agreement. You can limit this through that agreement and it would hold up in court, if necessary. Example: You cannot share client list with anyone for 10 years. You cannot share operations information with anyone within a 100 mile radius of xyz Company's location for 5 years. Note: like the example the length and terms can vary per item.

I hope that helps you.
 
Another thing to be aware of is that if you have someone sign a non compete you might be essentially telling everyone (including the IRS) that you consider that person an employee and not just a contractor. NDA with damages listed is one thing but definitely have an attorney look it over and hopefully they will be honest enough to tell you if that type of thing is worth the paper it is written on and not just something that could potentially put you in a different type of liability later.
 
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