Software Engineer

Legally, I don’t think so. But if you have stocks with your current company, it is their discretion to hold them.

Investor

Lawyer

Non competes are not enforceable in India. 
  
 Serve your notice period and join the competition.

Sales Manager

non compete clause. If i join a direct competitor can my current company sue me and the company

Compete Clause

Business Development Manager

Compete Clause- Grapevine

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

My last company which is a early stage startup has 1 yr non compete clause in the employee agreement and which they asked us to get signed 4 months back on a very short notice to comply with investor requirements. We did it because of just compliance matter. Now I don't have good equation with them and have good offers from competitors.

Please suggest should I proceed with the offer or look for something else which doesn't fall into non compete. Please share your experiences.

Non Compete clause

Some context.
Worked at an early stage startup around 1.5 years ago. This startup works in the Computer Vision space and does a lot of experiments(no direction at all, will take some project from some fintech company one day, some project from healthcare, and then some project from some random company, basically these go nowhere), I worked with one of the projects that involved document processing and it got some revenue.

At my last day, I was made to sign some agreement which included non compete.

1.5 hears later, today, I’ve joined a startup that works in FinTech domain and has been doing pretty good, and they sent a BGV check to my previous employer, and those guys are saying they won’t do BGV and that I’m violating the non compete agreement. They think entire world is their competitor, honestly, they’re nothing and no one even gives a fuck about their existence.

What can I do here?

My ex-employer is messing up my background verification

Machine Learning Engineer

Hello - need some urgent help ! 

Is it legal to join a competitor in the analytics consulting domain in the same project or a different project? 

Note - I did sign a joining document of an existing company which covers a Non Solicitation clause.

Joining competitor

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

Hey folks, 

This competitor's CEO reached out to me recently and we talked for an hour. 

In the end, he asked my current TC which was quite surprising. He then offered me a 100% hike + 10L esops. 

Although the offer is tempting. I have a problem. There is a Non-Compete clause in my offer letter for 8 months. 

How can I tackle this? The CEO said that, if I make up my mind he will make sure that my current org doesn't know any of this. 

Please help me with all the suggestions!! 
Thanks in advance :)

Competitor trying to poach

Product Manager

A common issue that I am usually engaged for, and see a lot of confusion amongst employees and companies, is with regard to non-compete clauses in employment contracts. Often employees are scared to sign non-competes as they feel a future move to a bigger or better employer is compromised, whereas employers want to ensure that their employees, possibly equipped with inside information of their companies, do not go and reveal or use such information to a competitor. Both parties, i.e., employees and their employers, have valid concerns. 
The first thing that an employee should be aware about is that in India, a non-compete clause is considered to only be valid for the period that the employee is employed with their employer. That means that while you’re employed to your employer, you will be barred from working for other companies or competitors of your employer. This is because of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act,1872, which provides that “every agreement by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession or trade or business of any kind, is to that extent void”. Courts across the country have consistently held that enforcement of post termination non-compete clauses are restraint of trade and against the public policy of the country. Therefore, once you have resigned or left the job with an employer, the non-compete clause cannot be enforced. 
While this is quite an employee centric approach, it should be kept in mind that most of these judgments and rulings did not come at a time when a lot of companies are creating high value Intellectual Property Rights, especially in technology. So, there is always a possibility that for highly technical jobs, where employees are developing such Intellectual Property, court rulings may change. It is also likely that for highly important positions, such as that of a CEO, employers may pursue enforcement of non-competes due to the insider knowledge that such positions come with. 
Employees should also realize

Non-compete Clauses in India

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

Hi I wanted to check, is non-compete enforceable as per Indian laws? My company wants us to sign non-compete for not joining the competition for 1 year. It's a very small and niche industry

Non- compete

Business Analyst

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

As per Google Baba: 

No, non-compete agreements are not legal in India under the Law of Contracts. Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act of 1872 states that any agreement that prevents someone from practising a lawful profession, trade, or business is void. Indian courts have consistently refused to enforce post-termination non-compete clauses in employment contracts. However, employers may claim compensation for loss due to violation.

Has anybody faced an issue with the non-compete agreement?

#Infosys

Non-Compete Agreement [Infosys and other companies]

Welcome to IT Company Discussion's Private Community

I am currently working for a startup for about 3 yrs now and they made me sign a non compete which states that I cannot join a similar domain work for 2 yrs post termination. I am currently in my notice period and have received an offer from a company in a similar domain with good pay and benefits, what should I do?

Does Non Compete really matter

Data Scientist

As the title suggests, I'm a lawyer and good at what I do. Haven't got anything better to do, so AMA.

Very happy to assist startups and young businesses as well!

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I'm a lawyer; AMA.