Non-compete clauses.....Getting really bad

[Katera]

Texas:  The last 4 Urgent Care company jobs I've looked at have all had seriously restrictive non-competes.  I just wanted to bring this up, as a lot of younger PA's will just sign whatever is put in front of them.  The last one I saw literally states that you could not work in any field of medicine that did not take appointments, not just Urgent Care.  And this was active throughout all of DFW, Houston, Austin and San Antonio......No joke.

 

The last two I was presented with even made you sign the non-compete for "part-time" work if you can believe it.

 

The moral is .....READ what you are signing friends.  Some say, "they will never enforce it".  Perhaps, but do you really want to be made to hire a lawyer and fight it if they do?  READ READ READ those 20 page contracts.

[GetMeOuttaThisMess]

If they won't enforce it, draw a line through the sentence on the contract, initial, and then have them initial before signing and get a copy.  Or just have them rewrite that particular paragraph, page, etc. if they have the contract on computer in an editable form.

[Reality Check 2]

http://www.monster.com/about/b/3-signs-your-noncompete-agreement-wont-stand-up-in-court

 

Nice concise little article about non-competes and it really stresses looking at the state laws.

 

Non compete and Right to Work aren't the same thing.

 

I have had one in every clinic I have ever been in but I have always written them to a so-and-so MILE radius. Our town isn't big enough to kick me out of the city ethically. 

 

I would personally NEVER sign a contract with a more than one year non-compete.

 

Also look at the specialty. When I was in Ortho - the noncompete was with other Ortho's - not FP or any other specialty.

 

The one the OP mentions sounds "too restrictive" which is mentioned in many articles as indicating that it is unenforceable based on applying too many factors that would prevent gainful employment in the mentioned field.

 

I agree with READ EVERYTHING and pay an attorney who knows employment law to review it - worth the fee.

[Gordon, PA-C]

Unfortunately Texas is one of the strongest non-compete clause states in the country, they allow great leeway for companies to enforce it.  Other states such as California have essentially ruled all noncompete clauses invalid and unenforceable.

[gcox87]

Never sign the non compete, or at least have it looked at so that it is reasonable. For non competes to be enforceable in texas they have to have regional limitations and a limit on time frame. I would argue that all of Texas is entirely to broad of a region for a non compete.

 

I have heard it mentioned here before but I beleive PA schools do not spend the time needed to educate their students on how to navigate their first contract. As an aspiring PA in Texas, I plan to get a club together for my classmates to discuss this and other issues (fair pay, contract length...)