Non-Compete Agreements And Unqualified Applicants

       I’ve been looking for a job for over 8 years now.  Maybe your’e thinking that I’m having trouble due to the fact that I may be unemployed or it’s a tough market out there.  I guess that the best way I can answer those questions is to say that the answer is no to both points.  So, why is it taking me so long to look for a job when I already have one?  

       I’ll give you a good example.  I had called a search firm and applied for a sales position where I would work with lawyers.  The woman said that I have a great resume with a background with no gaps since I have never been unemployed in my life.  The problem is that I need to have industry related skills in order to work at this job.  

        So, I fired back and said “aren’t people who are applying for this position on non-compete agreements?.” She said “Absolutely.  We received a ton of resumes for this position and we had to eliminate most of those people because they could not work their way around their non-compete agreement.  We were lucky enough to find two people though who could so they are being considered for the job since they understand Discovery.”  
         In the end, she also said that "we deal with people who are on non-compete agreements all the time.  That's the way it is."  

         In case you’re thinking “well Ron, why don’t you just apply for jobs in your industry even thought you’re on a non-compete agreement.  It’s not like the company can’t do anything about it.  

          My answer would be that it would be a waste of time.  First of all, my company could take an injunction out to stop me from working at that job.  Sure, I can go to court and fight this but the legal fees would be over $10,000.  

         In addition, I would tell you that I have met with hiring managers who had reviewed my resume and my non-compete agreement and all of them said that they didn’t want to hire me due to the fact that they could be sued for any lost business since that is also covered in my non-compete agreement.  As a result, I am locked out of over 95% of potential jobs in my industry.  

          With that said, thousands of people who are non-compete agreements that are like mine have to apply for jobs that we are unqualified for.  Now, since we don’t know how many people are on non-compete agreements across the country, there may be in indication of this based on some of the links that I have listed below.  

           Take the first one which is a survey of people in Indiana who are looking for a job.  “Of the 532 participating employers, 39% (202) said they recently have left jobs unfilled due to unqualified applicants.”

           Now, let’s take a look at the second link, which is another survey from Beyond.com.  “Following a national survey of nearly 4,000 job seekers and HR professionals, 75% of the HR respondents said they were having trouble filling open positions because too many of the candidates were unqualified. Meanwhile, the same survey found that 55% of job seekers felt they were not getting those open positions because they were competing with too many qualified candidates.

             “Reading further, there seems to be a reason for this.  “One reason why HR professionals might not think candidates are qualified is because of their resumes. 73% of HR professionals feel that job applicants do a "bad job" of tailoring their resumes to specific positions. In fact, only 28% of candidates said they always customize their resumes for a position, which means the majority of candidates may not be taking advantage of the opportunity to highlight their most relevant experience.”

               Yes, it’s very easy to dismiss people like me from this survey.  It’s not like we can figure out how many people are on a non-compete agreement.  That can be done by putting a question on the unemployment application.  Are you on a non-compete agreement and having trouble finding work in your industry because of it?  Yet employment applications have this question on a non-compete agreement.  Are you on a non-compete agreement?  So much for bringing the unemployment application up to date from the 50’s.  

                If anything, there is a disconnect regarding non-compete agreements.  Sure, we see newspaper articles from large newspapers like the Boston Globe, The Washington Post, or even the Huffington Post on low wage workers being on non-compete agreements yet we never see a news report on a national or cable network other than Fox News, who in the past has put a positive spin on non-compete agreements.   

                So feel free to read these articles and jump to your own conclusions about why people are applying for jobs that they are unqualified for.  Believe that it has something to do with the applicant’s resume.   The truth is that for many people, the future of being on a non-compete agreement means that you have to learn how to hop from job to job so I have put a link there for you as well. 

                 Reading these articles below only makes the truth easier to understand about non-compete agreements.   A tree can fall in a forest and no one will hear it.  For a lot of people, we may or may not know that non-compete agreements even exist but we still go out of our way to hide from them because we don’t want to know about them.  

Ron Hummer 

                  

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Survey-Many-Indiana-employers-left-jobs-unfilled-due-to-under-qualified-applicants-265539651.html

http://about.beyond.com/press/releases/20140910-National-Survey-Reveals-75-percent-of-HR-Professionals-View-Job-Seekers-as-Unqualified

http://mashable.com/2014/10/19/recruiters-versus-job-seekers/

http://www.tonawanda-news.com/opinion/wallace-on-the-job-hunt-now-online/article_22acebd7-4b0f-52c6-a9b5-a4c7d0fce618.html

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/human-resources/busting-the-burning-myths-about-job-hopping-2-01869874

The Camp Bow Wow Saga Continues

          So, here I am at home, going to check my e-mail, and here is a representative from Connecticut, giving me a response to my thoughts on Camp Bow Wow and their non-compete agreement.   Yes, the one that states that their employees can be fired at any time for any reason and they can’t work within a 25 mile radius of a competitor.   

           Yes, the employees should be on non-compete agreements because the standard is that these employees are being trained to take care of dogs.  It wouldn’t be fair to allow them to take those skills and work somewhere else.  Yes, it doesn’t matter if these employees are abused.  It doesn’t matter if they can make more money somewhere else.  

            Anyway, this was the response that I received from an aid who represents a state Senator in Connecticut. 

The latest legislation concerning non-compete clauses have been in 2013- HB 6658  (actually passed but was vetoed by the governor) and 2007-HB 6989 (enacted – codified at 31-50a & b). I also saw that there were proposed pieces of legislation as far back as 1999 that were variations on these bills. At least one was aimed  at prohibiting non-compete agreements for employees making less than $200,000 annually.

As you can see we have attempted to address this issue in the past. If you’d like additional information I suggest reading the information provided in the two bills I mentioned above.

HB6989

http://cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=6989+&which_year=2007&SUBMIT1.x=0&SUBMIT1.y=0

HB6658

http://cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=6658&which_year=2013&SUBMIT1.x=0&SUBMIT1.y=0

Please let me know if you have any additional questions,

        So, I guess I’m supposed to read this and say okay, if I have a problem, then I should take it up with Governor Dannel Malloy.   I had already spoken to someone in his office.  Yes, she didn’t know about the story in the Huffington Post either.  All she could tell me was that new legislation would have to be brought up.  

         Maybe Governor Malloy should think about all this the next time he goes into Subway to order a sandwich.  Maybe he should talk to his friends and see they have their dogs being taken care of at Camp Bow Wow.  Yes, you can’t be embarrassed about something that you don’t know about.  

          I guess you can say that I don’t accept a lot of things about non-compete agreements.  I don’t accept it when some reporter from the New York Times says that companies are squeezing their employees.  You see, I have met with employment lawyers about my non-compete agreement.  Let me tell you what they said.  

         “Companies like yours have an attitude that they’re doing you a favor by giving you a job because they can fire you at any time for any reason and they don’t have to give you anything, not even a severance package, because the only reward you get from this contract is a job.            

         “These agreements should be illegal but they’re not illegal.  It’s up to the government to do something about this.  As long as they do nothing, then this will continue.” 

          So, you see, there is your answer in a nutshell.  In the meantime, we have dog groomers, cat groomers, maids, employees at Subway, PotBelly, Jimmy John’s, and even Camp Bow Wow have to be on non-compete agreements.  In addition, this also included a 16 year old teenage girl who was on a non-compete agreement in order to work at a summer camp in Massachusetts.  

           You think this is the first time that people have talked about lower level employees being on a non-compete agreement.  Watch the video from Fox Business News and see how Melissa Francis puts a positive spin on non-compete agreements when the CEO tells her that I do this to protect all of my employees.  Watch how his opponent reacts when he says more than once that this isn’t fair to lower level employees, only to have Ms Francis cut this man off.  

           Take a look at the video from Subway on a woman that was fired from her job because she was sick and was told that she could not work within 100 miles of another sandwich shop.  What does Fox say to this video.  Be careful what you sign.  Yes, blame the employee for getting themselves into this mess.  

             Yes, unemployment rates are at their highest in this country and here are companies, putting employees from all walks of life on a non-compete agreement, an agreement that only leads to a career of indentured servitude.  

              In the end, we only know about this if we have a search on google news or we’re on Twitter.  Then we get to read these stories on Twitter and retweet them.  Yes, employees are the ones who are supposed to be outraged since we are the ones who are working all day long and the only thing we get is advice from Michael Bloomberg who says, get in early, stay late, and hold it in.  

               This is our corporate world and for thousands of employees across the country, we are going to be on non-compete agreements.  Blame whoever you want but in the end, it’s like a tree in a forest because when it falls, no one hears about it since we can’t have any stories on any news or cable networks about how our livelihoods have changed over the past 15 years.  

Ron Hummer 

                    

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2619366929001/do-non-compete-agreements-stifle-innovation/#sp=show-clips

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23823034/woman-fighting-to-work-at-another-restaurant-after-subway-enforces-non-compete-contract

The Twitter Wave On Non-Compete Agreements

         Over the past few weeks, there have been stories regarding low wage workers that have been put on non-compete agreements.  The first one was the employees at Jimmy John’s, followed by a maintenance worker in Seattle, then the employees at Camp Bow Wow.  

          Of course, this is nothing new since employees at Subway and Pot Belly have also signed non-compete agreements in the past.  A manager at Subway was fired at her job in Michigan for being sick and found out that she could not work within 100 miles of a sandwich shop for one year after she was terminated.  

           If we want to add to this list, we have maids, dog and cat groomers, and hairdressers as well that are on non-compete agreements.  In addition, people who work at a summer camp in Massachusetts were also told to sign a non-compete agreement.  One of those employees was a 16 year old teenage girl.  

           In any case, the most recent sighting of a non-compete agreement took place in Stamford Connecticut at Camp Bow Wow.  The story was in the Huffington Post on November 24th.  I decided that I would call some of the state representatives in Connecticut to see what their reaction was to the story. 

            I guess the first thing I can tell you that I called four representatives and none of them knew about this story.  I don’t think it would have made a difference if it ran in the Hartford Courant since none of the representatives in Seattle knew of the story in the Seattle Times about Benny Almeida’s non-compete agreement that he signed as a maintenance worker at ServiceMaster.  

             Other than that, the first representative started giving me a history lesson in non-compete agreements by telling me that this started with TV news anchors and celebrity journalists who were griping about their non-compete agreement.  My response was that I don’t have any sympathy for them since their contracts are much shorter than the others that I have mentioned - 6 months - and that celebrity journalists such as Ann Curry get a reward of $12 million dollars a year for their contract which expires after a few years.  

            The non-compete agreements such as mine or Camp Bow Wow or the others that I have mentioned don’t expire.  Our only reward is that we are allowed to work in these companies.  We can be fired at any time for any reason and we can’t work for a competitor or a company that has a product that competes with my company from 2-5 years.  Other contracts in the media industry for radio and TV stations don’t last more than 6-12 months and they have a Union that fights for them. 

             If you want me to have some sympathy for celebrity journalists or radio and TV personalities, then my answer would be sure, I’ll consider it as soon as one of the network news or cable stations will actually take the time to run a story on TV regarding the stories that I have mentioned.  Obviously, that won’t be done at this point.  Maybe that is part of the reason that state and government officials don’t know about these stories that seem to get retweeted all the time on Twitter. 

             In addition, I did speak with an aide to one of of the state Senators that is involved in labor issues in Connecticut.  His response was okay, I’ll print the story out in the Huffington Post and give it to the Senator but I don’t see us doing anything about non-compete agreements at this time.  

              That’s fine.  No rush on this.  More people can just sign non-compete agreements because when they do, then they’ll be stuck just like I am because if there is legislation in the future, it will only be for people who didn’t sign a non-compete agreement since state laws can’t invalidate a contract.  

               As far as the other State senators were concerned, the answer was the same.  We’ll show the story to the Senators and let you know what we think.  I didn’t get a response from the representatives in Seattle and I don’t expect to get a response from the representatives in Connecticut as well. 

               Yes, these are the people that you vote for, the ones who can create legislation to stop non-compete agreements.  One idea would be to say that employees who make less than $50,000 a year shouldn’t be on a non-compete agreement since they can’t afford over $10,000 in legal fees to hire an employment lawyer to fight this.  Good luck with getting that passed in any state. 

               So, there you have it.  People are on Twitter retweeting these stories and no one in the state and local governments is paying any attention to this.  Eventually, this will all die down until we have another story on non-compete agreements.  Maybe that can be about a chain of restaurants.  After all, if you saw the movie, As Good As It Gets, you know that a waitress can get a customer to go to another diner since Helen Hunt was able do do that with her relationship with Jack Nicholson.  

               In any case, continue to retweet the stories.  Maybe next time, a reporter will take the extra time to get a comment from a state or local representative although I’m sure the answer would be no comment.  After all, if you watch Fox News, you would see that we need to eradicate Obamacare before tackling this problem. 

               I realize that I’m sounding like a Cynic but those are the answers.  Retweeting stories is no different than being at a football game and standing up for wave.  It’s a lot of fun to be outraged about these stories but the fact is that your representatives don’t feel the same way that you do.  

Ron Hummer 

             

Ask The Republicans

           Today I saw a story in the Huffington Post with the headline Doggy Day Care Chain Makes Pet Sitters Sign Noncompetes To Protect 'Trade Secrets’.  In this case, this is Camp Bow Wow having their employees sign a two year non-compete agreement stating that they can’t work 25 miles from a competitor.  

           Not a shock.  A few weeks ago, I posted a story from 2009 about Petland suing a dog and cat groomer in St. Louis.  There were other cases as well such as Canine Oasis being in a lawsuit over a non-compete agreement.  

           Before that, there was a story on Jimmy John’s and their non-compete agreements for people who made sandwiches.  A few weeks ago, I posted a video from 2013 on a woman from Subway who was fired for being sick and was told that she couldn’t work within 100 miles of another sandwich shop in Michigan.  

            No, I’m not trying to say anything bad about the fact that the Huffington Post is behind in mentioning these stories.  I’m glad they’re doing it.  I’m glad that the Seattle Times ran their story on a maintenance worker being put on a non-compete agreement.  Maybe at some point news and cable networks will run a story as well once they feel that the story is credible.  So far, that hasn’t happened. 

             The truth is that there is nothing illegal about the companies putting their employees on non-compete agreements.  As my employment lawyer told me more than 8 years ago, non-compete agreements should be illegal.  It’s up to the government to do something about this.  As long as they do nothing, then this will continue.  

             We can look to legislation in the following states: Minneapolis, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland.  There was proposed legislation by the Democratic representatives because the feeling was was that employees were not protected from companies who put out non-compete agreements.  The legislation in all of these states failed.  It’s not hard to guess why this legislation failed. 

              In Maryland and New Jersey, the legislation was that if you were fired from your job and forced to collect unemployment benefits, then your non-compete agreement would be invalid.  Democratic Representatives stared this legislation.  Republicans opposed it.  Yes, the Republicans opposed this legislation, sending a message that they don’t have a problem paying unemployment benefits to people who can work but can’t work in their industry due to their non-compete agreement.  

             Over the next few days, people will be retweeting the story on Camp Bow Wow.  People will say how outrageous it is that these people are on non-compete agreements just like they said that Benny Almeida shouldn’t be on a non-compete agreement.  As non-compete lawyers will tell you, if these employees have a problem with this, then they should hire an employment lawyer, go to court, and spend over $10,000 to fight this.   That’s why we have the courts and that’s why there is no reason to regulate non-compete agreements.  

              There is your answer in a nutshell.  This is one of the reasons we have non-compete agreements.  It’s because the party that you’re feeling great about - The Republican Party - has prevented legislation from passing that would regulate non-compete agreements.  

              Maybe you’ll read a story in the Huffington Post next week about waiters and waitresses being on non-compete agreements.  That shouldn’t be a shock since maids are on non-compete agreements.   As my employment said, this will continue, until the state and local government steps in and regulates non-compete agreements.  
              If you would like some insight as to feelings the Republicans have, you can listen to this podcast on Amendment One in Georgia.  

Ron Hummer 

http://resultsmatterradio.businessradiox.com/2012/04/30/noncompete/

               

It Could Happen To You

      It seems that once again, we’ve reached an all time low when it comes to people who sign non-compete agreements.  I didn’t think anything would compare with a 16 year old teenage girl signing a non-compete agreement in order to work in a summer camp in Massachusetts.  

       It was reported in the Seattle Times that a maintenance worker had been asked to sign a non-compete agreement that stated that if he leaves, he can’t work for two years doing similar work in ServiceMaster’s area.  Maybe the only good thing about the agreement was that he wouldn’t be fired and be told that he can’t work for two years in the geographic area since that is usually standard in non-compete agreements such as the one I signed 8 years ago.  

         Since this article appeared, there have been a lot of people on Twitter sharing their thoughts, most of it being outrage that this should never have happened.  Yes, who would have thought that a maintenance worker would be put on a non-compete agreement since he was no threat to Servicemaster.  

          The truth is that this shouldn’t be a shock for people who are reading this article.  Non-compete agreements are in just about every profession now from hairdressers, dog and cat groomers, maids, and people who work at fast food restaurants such as Subway, PotBelly, and Jimmy John’s.  

           The explanation for all this is that corporate America is squeezing blue collar workers.  To me, that is only part of the truth.  The other part is something that has not been discussed yet.  

             The real reason for this is because employees across American are not protected from their employers since we are on non-compete agreements.  

             As one of my employment lawyers said, companies like mine have an attitude that they’re doing you a favor that they’re giving you a job because they can fire you at any time for any reason and they don’t have to give you anything, not even a severance package.  This should be illegal but it’s not illegal.  It’s up to the government to do something about this.  If the government continues to ignore this, then this will continue. 

              Of course, the subject of regulating non-compete agreements is taboo since we have newscasters at Fox News, Republicans, and Tim Allen saying that big government should get out of the way of big business.  Yet the answer is that non-compete agreements such as the one that Benny Almeidia and I have signed have been thriving for over 15 years because the Republicans in the state and local governments have been opposed to any regulations on non-compete agreements.  

               One example would be in New Jersey where the Democrats in the Assembly brought up legislation that stated that if someone was fired from their job and forced to collect unemployment benefits, then their non-compete agreement would be invalid.  This legislation did not pass due to opposition from Republicans.  Chris Christie had ignored this bill and did not say anything about it during his election for Governor.

                In any case, I was busy a few days ago, calling State Senators in the Washington State area.  Of the six people that I called, non of them were aware of the story in the Seattle Times on Benny Almeida.  That shouldn’t be a shock since this story did not run on any of the news or cable networks as well since they never heard about it either. 

            In all cases, the representatives that I spoke with listened to me intently as I explained the article to them and told them that they can find it by going Seattle Times and non-compete agreements.  The response I received today was that the representatives were very interested in the article now and there would be a discussion about this. 

            In Benny Almeida’s case, since he signed the agreement, nothing can be done to change that since it would be unconstitutional to invalidate his contract due to state laws in Washington State.  That would be the reason you would see legislation that would only help people who didn’t sign a non-compete agreement going forward.  Nothing can be done for people who have already signed a non-compete agreement. 

             So, the question would be this?  Would the State Senators and Assembly people be able to pass legislation that would regulate non-compete agreements?  That would be tough considering the fact that the Republicans hold the majority in the Senate and they are in favor of big government staying out of the way of big business. 

               With all this in mind, the future does seem grim in having non-compete agreements regulated in Washington State or any other state for that matter since Republicans, along with newscasters at Fox News and Tim Allen, continue to say that big government should stay out of the way of big business.  As a result, this means that more maintenance workers will be asked to sign non-compete agreements.  

               Is there a way  that this can be changed.  Well, the answer would be to leave it up to the people who live in the Washington State area.  They can call their representatives and tell them that they want non-compete agreements regulated.  If the representatives disagree, then the good people of Washington State can fire the people who are in office, which in this case is Republicans.  That is the only way that things will change.  

               In any case, people have a lot to think about when they say that they are outraged by non-compete agreements.  The truth is that as long as the government does nothing, then it will continue.   And one day, you could receive a memo from your company asking you to sign a non-compete agreement as well.  

Ron Hummer 

An Open Letter To Senator Steve Conway 29th Dist. – Tacoma, WA

Dear Mr. Conway: 

          I had spoken with a representative at Annette Cleveland’s office and they have urged me to send you an e-mail regarding the story in the Seattle Times about a maintenance worker from Servicemaster being put on a non-compete agreement.  

          As you can see, the reason that Benny Almedia was put on a non-compete agreement is because lawyers claim that he is getting training and gaining skills and that is the reason that he should be put on a non-compete agreement.  These skills in this case are the ability to clean floors.  

           I’m sure you can see through this and know that this is nothing more than an attempt by non-compete lawyers to game the system and go out of their way to put all employees on non-compete agreements for their financial gains since Mr. Almedia poses no threat to the company and would have no impact if he left the company and took that job for $21.00.  

             Unfortunately, non-compete agreements are common throughout the country today.  Employees at Subway, Jimmy John’s, Potbelly, and other fast food restaurants have their employees on non-compete agreements.  In addition, there are dog groomers, cat groomers, maids, and hairdressers on non-compete agreements as well. 

              The most disturbing piece of news is that a 16 year old teenage girl was also asked to sign a non-compete agreement in order to work in a summer camp.  That should tell you there there could be teenagers in your area who could have signed non-compete agreements as well without their parents consent.  I’m sure that you would not want to read a story in the Seattle Times on this if that were to be the case. 

              I hope that as a result of this, you will consider taking action which includes regulating non-compete agreements.  It’s obvious that non-compete lawyers and their clients have no regard to who signs a non-compete agreement and they don’t care if it causes embarrassment to your state.  

              If you’re on Twitter, you would see that there are people who are constantly commenting on this story.  Taking no action on this would mean that non-compete lawyers in your area will continue to game the system and take advantage of people like me who want to earn a living without a non-compete agreement that would be held over our head - an agreement that states that employees can be fired at any time for any reason and can’t work in the industry for 2-5 years.  These are the types of agreements that create a career of indentured servitude.  

              States like New Jersey and Maryland tried to pass legislation that stated that if an employee is fired and forced to collect unemployment benefits, then their non-compete would be invalid.  You can refer to bill A3970 in New Jersey for details on this bill.  

                You can also look at legislation in Massachusetts regarding limiting non-compete agreements for six months and outlawing non-compete agreements for lower level position such as fast food companies and maintenance workers.  

                 Below are the links to the articles.  I hope you will consider acting on this information.   By doing that, if you’re able to regulate non-compete agreements in your state, then other states could follow your example.  

                I wish you luck in this.  Thank you for reading this letter. 

Ron Hummer

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025004749_westneat12xml.html

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/01/noncompete/DJSb4Hl1kSyDzmD9sOv9NI/story.html

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23823034/woman-fighting-to-work-at-another-restaurant-after-subway-enforces-non-compete-contract