Competition in large part drives capitalism, but it can also lead to unfair situations. Some businesses or individuals will stop at nothing to gain an advantage over their competitors. Some might even try poaching employees from you or engaging in corporate espionage to undermine your business advantages.
Your current workforce is one of your biggest liabilities when it comes to unfair competition. There are three different ways that you could protect yourself from employee-related competition issues by adding restrictive covenants to your employment contract.
1. Add a non-compete agreement
Provided that you limit how long the agreement lasts and the geographic area that it applies to, you can potentially prevent your current workers from starting their own business or going directly to work for a competitor for several years after they end their job with your company.
2. Consider a non-disclosure agreement
Many people associate non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with personal misconduct. It is true that people who have abused their position will sometimes require a non-disclosure agreement as part of a settlement with the party they harmed, but that is not the only purpose of such agreements. An NDA can protect your company from someone sharing intellectual property and trade secrets.
3. Implement a non-solicitation policy
Directly competing against you or stealing your intellectual property aren’t the only ways an employee could hurt you. They could also leave your company and then lure away your most crucial staff members to work for a different business. Non-solicitation agreements will ostensibly protect your company from that kind of employee poaching.
Protecting your business can deter unscrupulous behavior and give you grounds to pursue litigation if someone does violate their contract with your company.