NON-COMPETE & NON-SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS IN NC
Is Your Business Protected?
Your employees are investments - how secure are they?
Without having the proper protections in place, your business could be exposed. In North Carolina, non-compete agreements and non-solicitation agreements are two tools you can use to protect your company. However, there are a lot of guidelines you need to follow to make sure the agreements will hold up in a court of law.
- Two Ways to Protect Your Business
- Is My Agreement Enforceable in Court?
- What Happens When An Employee Violates the Terms?
- A non-compete limits the employee’s ability to compete with the employer for a set period of time after an employee exits the company. This can shield your business from losing trade secrets, operational knowledge, and other vital information to competitors.
- Similarly, a non-solicitation agreement restricts an employee’s ability to solicit an employer’s customers for a set period of time after employment ends. Essentially, this keeps former employees from poaching your customers.
To be upheld by a judge in NC, generally, agreements must be:
- in writing;
- a part of the employment contract;
- based on valuable consideration (which means that the employer offers something of value in exchange for the employee’s agreement);
- reasonable as to time and territory; and
- designed to protect the company’s legitimate business interests.
Without former employees, your current workforce, and your competitors being aware of your intent and ability to pursue legal action against any violators, merely having the agreements in place may not be enough to protect your business.
By bringing a civil action to enforce these agreements—which can result in different forms of relief ranging from an injunction to monetary damages—a company sends a message to employees that it is willing to protect the business by enforcing its contractual rights with respect to former employees.
Let us help you protect your business
About Mathew E. Flatow
As a lawyer and a small business owner, Mathew has a passion for helping businesses. From startup assistance to helping businesses protect what they've built and manage healthy growth, he views his cases with a singular focus: to solve the problems faced by his clients.
