"non-compete and trade secrets" Blog Tag

IL Tidal wave (or tsunami) of new laws for Illinois employers

August 15th, 2019 by David Moore and Peter Gillespie at Laner Muchin

Look, I am not one to argue with attorneys because you never know when you might need one, so you decide for yourself the correct roaring-wall-of-water metaphor.

Regardless, any Illinois employer that either has or deals with:

• employee handbooks
• confidentiality
• cannabis
• policies
• salary (history, sharing info, pay equity)
• REQUIRED ANNUAL TRAINING (sexual harassment)
• employees (probably should have just lead with that)

would be well advised (attorney-speak for "just do it") to read what David Moore and Peter Gillespie have to say and then execute said prescribed actions elucidated (attorney-speak for "just do it") (attorneys have a rather extensive alternative vocabulary).

OR Non-competes and the (hula) hoops required

August 7th, 2019 by Charlotte Hodde at Barran Liebman

So you think you need non-compete agreements to protect your really important and secret business stuff. Fair enough. Just be aware of the following hoop-jumping required:

• let the employee know about the non-compete two weeks before their first day
• pay them $30ish/hour
• except you probably can't pay them hourly
• give them a written copy of the non-compete within 30 days of termination or when they quit (starting January 1, 2020).

And probably something about being signed in blood and a ban on crossing your fingers behind your back. No changies.

Confused? Don't be. Charlotte Hodde is a championship-level hula-hoop jumper.

Protecting Trade Secrets when Terminating Employees

January 23rd, 2019 by Stan Hill at Polsinelli

They are called secrets for a reason, and if you want to keep them so, Stan Hill has four tips for you:

1. Cut the cord, but not too soon
2. Remind the employee about confidentiality
3. Gather devices
4. $ incentives?

Non-competes for non-skilled – non-productive, non-legal, non-enforceable?

December 3rd, 2018 by Evan Gibbs at Troutman Sanders

Non-competes, specifically for low-wage workers:

• seem to invite the attention of attorneys generals
• are becoming the target of more and more legislation
• are difficult to write so they do more than cost you money, either on the front end or the back
• is currently being considered as a possible name change by both the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals as they look to rebrand and embrace the futility. 

Evan Gibbs lays out the risks of using non-compete agreements with unspecialized workers en masse, and maybe the risk of pairing the name "Non-competes" with orange and brown or orange and black (actually, orange and brown is a little bit sad, right?).

Public disclosure of confidential information is easier than you think

October 1st, 2018 by Tina Syring at Cozen O'Connor

Just because you say something is confidential doesn't make it so. And just because an employee believes the information is confidential and thinks they are treating it as such, doesn't mean they are – think airport restaurant and an employee checking in with the office over the phone, including names, numbers and obstacles overcome in a series of sales meetings.

Tina Syring didn't just think it, she encountered it. Here's how she helps make it unencounterable.