[ale] Numbers 8 and 9

[Jim Kinney]

When I joined a large, multinational firm, I had to sign a series of forms
that concerned outside work and overlap of knowledge. There was a space to
fill in of personal work under progress that was to be excluded from new
corporate masters potential control. I started rattling off a list of
everything I had even the most remote of interest in for that space. As the
new boss reached for the second page to fill in, he took the first page,
tore it up, pulled a fresh blank copy and changed that box to "Everything
Linux, GPL or Open Source Licensed.". We both agreed that covered my
personal interests rather well as software I worked on that was not to be
owned by new masters.


On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 4:15 PM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

> On 05/22/2013 01:38 PM, leam hall wrote:
> > They have control of your off hours work? Obviously saying anything
> negative or
> > sharing corporate information is a no-no; but I didn't think any
> corporation
> > could control your off hours time.
>
> Employers have been having employees sign agreements for years that may or
> may
> not be legal in any specific jurisdiction.  Laws in GA changed in the last
> year
> to make employers have more say than employees thanks to uninformed voters
> (IMHO).
>
> Whether any company will fire someone over release of general information
> or not
> is something each person will need to decide. They certainly can make is
> uncomfortable to remain employed or just give "suck work" to someone they
> would
> like to encourage to leave. I've seen this. Many companies have all their
> employees sign over all rights to any work and business ideas (at all) to
> the
> company on the first day. It isn't like you know all the legal paperwork
> when
> you accept a position, have left your old job and still have a mortgage
> payment
> in a few weeks.  Do you sign or not?  I've signed those agreements in the
> past
> and I've been forced to re-sign modified agreements in less than 24 hrs or
> it
> would be considered my resignation.  For the record, I signed.  Knowning
> what I
> know today,
> a) I wouldn't sign under similar duress - my knowledge and skill is worth
> more
> to a company than modifying a foolish legal standard that "everyone must
> sign" -
> they'd freak out if just a few key people refused to sign.
> b) Many of these restrictive clauses are put in by lawyers to preemptively
> restrict employee outside work.  INAL.
>
> Whether all or part of these agreements will stand up in a court is a
> completely
> different question.
>
> Georgia changed the non-compete law to make it extremely one-sided last
> year. It
> was voted on and the corporations won. The amount of time basically
> doubled from
> 1 year to 2 and anywhere in the state can be included.  If you have a
> non-specific non-compete in your employment agreement, expect a modified
> version
> with GA and 2 yrs to be coming. The easy way around this is to move to a
> different state. Of course, this is just my interpretation - check with
> your own
> lawyer for your specific situation.  Lower level employees probably do not
> have
> much to worry about, as most companies will not sue them. If enforcement
> isn't
> sought - it doesn't matter at all, right?
>
> Companies based in California are used to completely different labor laws
> which
> seem to be friendlier towards individuals being allowed to switch
> companies as
> they like.  Of course, whether California-based companies are good for you
> or us
> is a different question.
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
*
*Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain
at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail.
It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
*
http://electjimkinney.org
http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
*
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