Can your employer prevent you from getting a different job?

Question

My friend's current employer says that his lease prohibits the company next door from hiring his employees. My friend was never told this and is concerned because the company next door is currently hiring and pays more. Can an employer limit an employee's right to find alternative work without ever telling employees?

Answer 1

This does not sound like a non-compete or employment contract at all.

It sounds like the landlord of the building is protecting it's tenants and may be perfectly legal.

You would have to read the lease to see what the exact clause is and what you have to do to get the company next door out of it. Just go and talk to the manager at the other company and see what they have to say.

Good luck

Answer 2

I have never heard of such a provision in a lease. If it is, he surely has the right to see it in writing. Actually, it isn't a restriction on your friend as much as it is on the employer next door.

The only thing I've ever heard of is a non-compete contract where you cannot legally go work for a direct competitor - and that being said, there is a time limit (usually 1 year).

If it is in the lease, there has to be a time limit described as well. It cannot be forever.

Answer 3

The short answer is, not usually, they can't. It is not uncommon to have a non-compete agreement (which is what this essentially is) at an executive level since execs have access to trade secrets and other sensitive info.

At a rank-and-file level, non-compete agreements are not enforceable in most states. I have never heard of a non-compete that is in effect an addenda to a lease agreement. A lease is by definition an agreement between tenant and ladnlord; adding third parties into such an agreement for employment purposes makes no sense at all to me.

I suspect your friend is being fed a line in order to prevent him from applying next door. Have him or her check with your state labor board (link through www.dol.gov) to see if a non-compete such as the one you describe is valid in your area.

Good luck.