Negotiating favorable terms is an important part of accepting a job offer for a worker or protecting the business when hiring a new employee. Non-compete agreements are popular inclusions, especially when a worker may have access to trade secrets that affect a company’s financial prospects, like proprietary recipes or client lists.
Such clauses could be a source of contention when a worker considers an offer from a potential future employer. Workers worry about signing away their future for a job. Are non-compete agreements currently enforceable in Ohio?
Ohio does permit such clauses
Currently, Ohio does allow employers to include non-compete agreements in their employment contracts and will sometimes uphold those agreements in civil court. However, not all non-compete agreements withstand the scrutiny of the civil courts. Employers have to include reasonable limitations on the agreement and offer something of valuable consideration to the employee for the agreement to be enforceable.
Additionally, there is the looming prospect of a federal non-compete ban. After years of conflicts between workers and companies, federal agencies have taken notice of these popular restrictive covenants. While these changes will take some time to enact, they will inevitably affect many successful companies and the professionals employed there.
Non-compete agreements may soon become impossible to enforce, meaning that employers may need to reconsider how they protect themselves in their contracts and that employees may have an easier time challenging the inclusion of a non-compete agreement in their paperwork in the future. Learning more about popular terms used for modern employment contracts will help those looking for a job or hiring new workers.