Company I work for being bought.

[redbridge]

I have heard that the small company I work for is being bought by a larger firm and that all engineers are going to be asked to sign a non-compete agreement. I am not sure if I want to work for this company so I am looking elsewhere. If there is an agreement currently being drafted, how quickly could this aquisition take place? Did any of you sign a non-compete agreement with the company you are with?

 

[TheTick]

Don't sweat it. Whatever the non-compete might say, it can't stop you from finding another job. It really only applies to starting a competing business of your own.

Google "restraint of trade non-compete".

 

[cvg]

unless you are actively marketing and developing business in your small company, a NDA will probably not affect you. At this point you have choices, make sure they offer you what you want because once you sign the employment agreement, your salary, benefits, vacation time and everything else will be set.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Join the club, I've been with my current 'company' for nearly 33 years and I have a collage of 27 business cards on my office wall. Granted, some only reflect a change in either my job title or a change in the name of our division, but they also show that in those 33 years I've worked for 6 DIFFERENT parent companies. In my case, the good news was that I've always been part of the organization which was what the next guy was focusing on when they acquired our company/division in the first place, so we've continued to grow both in size and in terms of what we represented to your new parents, from only a few hundred people back in 1980 to close to 10,000 employees in our division today.

Anyway, it's been a fun ride, albeit not without it's moments of trepidation and even pain, but in the end, the cream always rises to the top ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[KENAT]

While the exact law may vary with jurisdiction etc. generally unless there's money involved (i.e. they pay you money not to compete) my understanding is often the non competes don't hold water.

Of course for legal questions you may be better looking on law-tips ;-)

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(probably not aimed specifically at you)
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[zdas04]

If you are concerned talk to a lawyer, not an Engineer. This is a subject that many here have personal experience with and the anecdotes are certainly fun and probably useful, but none of us is privy to your exact circumstances (e.g., what does your existing employment agreement say about non-compete, that agreement stays in place until superseded?) or the specific nuances of the law in your jurisdiction.

If you do a search on eng-tip.com you'll see this topic discussed several times and the conclusion keeps being that NDA are not worth the blood that they are written in for virtually all non-executive employees (and most executives with the exception that if they continue your salary after separation you can't compete while being paid).

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

"Belief" is the acceptance of an hypotheses in the absence of data.
"Prejudice" is having an opinion not supported by the preponderance of the data.
"Knowledge" is only found through the accumulation and analysis of data.
The plural of anecdote is not "data"

 

[KENAT]

Minor point, but one I think I should bring up, an Non Disclosure Agreement is not the same as a Non Compete Agreement.

Obviously there is potentially some relationship between them, and sometimes both are present in any given employment 'contract'.

I forgot to say that at one point yes I had to sign a non compete.

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[TomDOT]

When you negotiate for your job (and it is a negotiation) in the new company, make sure that you get to keep your seniority, perks, expected upcoming reviews/raises, et cetera.

 

[msquared48]

If you are asked to sign a non-compete agreement, then ask them to sign a no lay-off, no fire agreement.

That should make you a lot of points...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[77JQX]

I've been with two separate small civil firms that were acquired by multi-nationals. I never had to sign a non-compete, and by the time the employees heard about the acquisition, it was pretty much a done deal.

Neither acquisition turned out well - one closed it's doors, the other is a fraction of its former size. In bith cases, the larger firm failed to appreciate the value of a low-overhead, nible organization, and instead burdened the small company with the overhead of a large company - prestigious office, new vehicles, marketing staff, etc., - and then wondered why profitibility was down. Maybe your new employers are different. But if the buyers are bringing in new bureaucratic measures (non-compete agreements and the like) before they've even introduced themselves, they sound even worse than the companies that acquired my ex-employers. If I were in your shoes, I'd be working my network for a new job pretty hard.

 

[Ron]

1. Acquisitions can take many forms and they don't generally take very long to complete. I sold my first engineering firm (small firm with 13 employees) to an international firm and the whole process took less than 60 days.

2. Non-compete agreements can also take many forms. In most jurisdictions in the US, there are two general criteria that will make them stick...if the period of time is reasonable (usually does not exceed 1 year) and if the geographical area of limitation is reasonable (usually within a certain distance of the main or branch offices of the company).

3. Non-compete agreements ARE NOT limited only to starting your own business. They usually include that you cannot work for a competitor of the company as well.

4. There is a large national engineering firm that is famous for its non-compete agreements and they enforce theirs all the way down to technician level. Absurd, but actual.

5. When I sold my first firm, I was the only person required to sign a non-compete agreement. I made sure that it was reasonable and more importantly, that it expired in a reasonable time. Most companies do not have expirations on their non-compete agreements. It was important to me so I made it a sale condition. You won't have that option, since you are not the owner of the business being sold.

6. Unfortunately checking with a lawyer will not likely get you anywhere in your case since they will likely give you two choices....sign the agreement or out the door. They will usually not negotiate on an individual basis, but might listen if the whole company balked at their provisions. If the whole group considers balking, then get an attorney for the whole group.