Non-Compete and Confidentiality Agreement

Non-Compete and Confidentiality Agreement Name Institution Overview Non-compete and confidentiality agreements are legal contracts that are regarded as restrictive, thus limiting what a person can do or say regarding a particular subject matter. Generally, restrictive instruments aim at preventing a person associating with a firm from disclosing or revealing certain information about the firm to competitors or conducting business that competes with that of the firm. As a result, the two legal instruments are mostly used to prevent financial damage from occurring to a business organization. Nevertheless, employers will be well off if such agreements are written and signed by attorneys. This is because it is almost impossible to prove the existence of oral agreements. Non-compete agreements can be stand-alone agreements or inserted into the overall employment agreement. However, other than just prohibiting former employees from creating similar products or working for other firms, a non-compete agreement covers much more. This includes limiting the former employee’s ability to recruit the employers’ staff to a competing company, and the use of sale leads obtained while employed by the previous employer. As a result, non-compete agreements are more of barriers to starting businesses rather than just contracts (Marx, 2012. P 53). On the other hand, a confidentiality agreement is effective at preventing employees of a company from using vital information as a bargaining tool. As a result, competing firms can hire employees for their talent and skills but not for their knowledge of their former employers. Consequently, employees prefer engaging in confidentiality agreements as they are less restrictive compared to non-compete agreements. Although they are enforceable, the cour...