this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
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New York’s governor vetoed a bill days before Christmas that would have banned noncompete agreements, which restrict workers’ ability to leave their job for a role with a rival business.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said she tried to work with the Legislature on a “reasonable compromise” this year, called the bill “a one-size-fits-all-approach” for New York companies legitimately trying to retain top talent.

“I continue to recognize the urgent need to restrict non-compete agreements for middle-class and low-wage workers, and am open to future legislation that achieves the right balance,” she wrote in a veto letter released Saturday.

The veto is a blow to labor groups, who have long argued that the agreements hurt workers and stifle economic growth. The Federal Trade Commission had also sent a letter to Hochul in November, urging her to sign the bill and saying that the agreements can harm innovation and prevent new businesses from forming in the state.

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[–] ersatz@infosec.pub 213 points 8 months ago (7 children)

For example, the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s previously came under scrutiny for forcing its low-wage workers to sign noncompete agreements that prevented them from working for a nearby business for two years after they left.

Jesus, they basically want slavery. They want workers to be completely dependent on them to the point that you legally can't go work at a different sandwich shop. I've only eaten there once and it was mediocre, but I'll never step foot in there again. What the fuck.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 103 points 8 months ago (7 children)

Why the fuck do they even need a non-compete clause for a sandwich shop? Are they worried people are going to reveal their secret Jimmy Johns technique for putting salami on bread to Subway?

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 46 points 8 months ago

The myth of the non-skilled worker isn't working in their favor here.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 33 points 8 months ago (2 children)

It's legal for them to do so, and if employees can't go to a competitor, it has the effect of depressing wages.

Non-compete clauses make sense for certain higher level employees (and usually involve some sort of garden leave payment too) but corporate America has started to slip all sorts of bullshit into standard employment contracts just because they can.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 15 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I don't even think it makes sense for them anymore. You either retain them with pay and job satisfaction or not. This idea that corporations can own experience is bullshit.

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[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Fun fact, there are franchise owners for all the big names that do this. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, etc. It's not usually a corporate decision.

Related, there are chains that won't hire from each other. They maintain a gray list of previous employees and you can only get hired back at your original location.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago

Ah yes, workers might take those precious trade secrets of (checks notes) how to make a sandwich.

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[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 159 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Why do these companies never get it? You want to retain talent… you gotta pay to retain that talent.

More accurately, you want your experienced and proprietary-knowledge-laden people to not take that stuff elsewhere…. Gotta pay them what they’re worth.

Can’t keep lowballing the pay raises, and expect people to not shop around,

[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 54 points 8 months ago

Sure they can, so long as they can ensure they have a high-placed government stooge or two to ensure they can legally blacklist an employee from the industry if they leave.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.world 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

He who lives by the free market shall die by the free market

[–] rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works 45 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He who lives by the free market will manipulate the free market to his advantage at the first opportunity to not have to actually live by the free market.

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[–] Drusas@kbin.social 129 points 8 months ago (1 children)

companies legitimately trying to retain top talent

Basically blacklisting them from their field for a year after leaving your company is not how you retain talent. Pay them better. Give them better health coverage or other benefits. Only being able to retain talent by basically threatening them if they leave is not a good look.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 50 points 8 months ago (1 children)

knew a guy who crossed out those bits in the agreement. they HR peeps never noticed until he found a new place to work. (he now works for our company.) It amazes me; how many people fail to realize every contract is unique.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

A modification like that is only valid if both parties add their initials next to it to confirm they've seen it...

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (6 children)

Nope. You just sign a contract without reading it, that’s on you.

Or did you think them being pushy while you actually read it wasn’t because they never ever try to sneak something in?

To clarify, you can’t add something way out of the pale, like “upon termination of this contract all assets of [whatever corpo] belong to FuglyDuck”… but you can definitely cross out terms you don’t ageee with (for example, the arbitration clause.)

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[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 120 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (24 children)

Cute how she's being likely being paid under the table by some lobbyists that benefits from said non-compete agreements. And even if not under the table, it's likely under the form of campain contributions, etc. Politics and capitalism mixed together brings the worst in both.

Nobody in their right mind would elect to veto something giving more rights to the working class without having some personal interests on the line.

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[–] raynethackery@lemmy.world 88 points 8 months ago

You picked the wrong side, Governor.

[–] iforgotmyinstance@lemmy.world 66 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Why can't they retain top talent by paying them more?

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago

But how would that benefit the shareholders? You're not thinking like a true capitalist!

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[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 63 points 8 months ago (12 children)

And this is one of the reasons top tech talent stays in Silicon Valley / San Francisco, and why that area innovates so quickly.

If your company sucks, I’ll work for your competitor.

[–] JDubbleu@programming.dev 42 points 8 months ago

It's also why wages are so high. You wanna keep your talent? You gotta pay more than the company next door, or have better perks to make up for the wage disparity.

I got poached from AWS because my current team has a full AWS stack, and they wanted someone who knew it inside and out. They offered me a full remote position (whole company is full remote) with a higher salary, but slightly less TC. My new job is also way less stressful and with way more freedom.

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[–] FluffyPotato@lemmy.world 48 points 8 months ago (4 children)

How are contracts like this enforceable in the US? Like here you could have a clause like that but the moment you try to sue someone for working at a competitor the judge would just laugh at you and throw your ass out of court. You can't have just anything in a contract, just like if a contract breaks employment laws then it's not valid.

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 38 points 8 months ago

Most contracts have a severability clause saying if any clause is unenforceable then that clause shall be severed, but the rest stands. This lets companies take some big swings with what they put in there.

It takes time and money and stress for a worker to challenge any terms regardless of their merit. So an invalid contract still keeps you down, just not as strongly as the invalid contract itself claims to be.

[–] ZeroTemp@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago (3 children)

They are rarely enforced and when they are it is usually due to some sort of significant financial loss the company suffered. Normally a company is not going to waste time and money taking a cook or cashier to court over quitting a job at McDonald's then going to work Burger King. But a senior software engineer working at Google going to work for Apple could have some real financial implications, so they'd be more likely to pursue legal action against that person. Still kinda bullshit in my mind but I get it.

[–] psmgx@lemmy.world 23 points 8 months ago

Yeah but California has already banned non-competes, has for years, and Google and Apple seem to be doing just fine with the financial implications.

Also non-competes are different from NDAs.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

There's still protections. Apple just got rocked for stealing the entire dev team from somewhere and just wholesale copying the code. Which is on Apple, not the worker. They could absolutely have taken them for an adjacent project (it was sensors in smart watches) using the same sensors. Or paid a licensing agreement for what was there with a right to improve it.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

But a senior software engineer working at Google going to work for Apple could have some real financial implications

No, unless you mean something quite different than that title. A large company will have hundreds or even thousands of senior software engineers, and it’s really not something that should be restricted with non-competes

To be valid, a non-compete should:

  • be subject to contract law, not just imposed
  • include recompense
  • not prevent you from getting a job
  • be narrowly tailored (ie, not prevent someone from working)
  • limited duration
  • can only apply to a few where the impact can be described or quantified: founders, executives, celebrities, top sales people with same customers
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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 44 points 8 months ago

legitimately trying to retain top talent

"Trying to figure out how to pay their talent less"

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 29 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Related. My previous employer had a b2b non-compete. The clients couldn't hire me. Yes it did end up costing me a job and a lawyer told me it would be very dicey challenging it the way it was written. On the plus side the client went bankrupt a few months back so that would have sucked.

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[–] stress_headache@lemmy.world 28 points 8 months ago

Any chance of overturning the veto?

[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thank god for states with half a brain. Non-competes are illegal in my state and not enforceable.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago

In my country non-compete laws are extremely rational: if you want to enforce such a contract, pay the person what he could make at a competitor during the entire duration you want to prevent him from going to the competition.

It's not up to the State to pay unemployment for people because you don't want talent to go somewhere else. Pay up or STFU.

Idiot employers will still put silly non-compete clauses into their contracts to scare people but I just chuckle as they are unenforceable unless they want to pay me to stay "on the beach".

[–] WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 24 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you want to retain top talent, pay them, give them better working conditions, offer them fulfilment. Don't make it illegal for them to work elsewhere.

We need free markets and deregulation... until it inconvenieniences non-productive shareholders in the slightest or those dirty workers start getting a little uppity.

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 21 points 8 months ago
[–] JustCopyingOthers@lemmy.ml 20 points 8 months ago

From this photo, this woman looks like the baddie from Men In Black 2.

[–] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 16 points 8 months ago

The funny thing is then the rich companies spends millions on lawyers to say that poached employee's stuff was common knowledge and thereby not an NDA issue or trade secret.

You turn around and say I'm leaving but will say the same stuff that person said to the next employer and they'll sue with the same lawyers.

"It's ok if I do it but not if they do it"

[–] Desistance@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago

Hope they have votes to overrule her veto.

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