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Jeff Rigsby's avatar

Shouldn't these agreements be made not just unenforceable but illegal, such that you get sued or fined if you make a job offer that incorporates one? Most working-class people aren't aware that a lot.of the legalese in their contracts is purely for intimidation, so there should be serious penalties for employers who use this tactic.

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David's avatar

I was forced to turn down a job because the non-compete was worded such that I would not be able to work in my field (which they broadly defined) for years after I left or was fired. I spoke with a lawyer (quite costly it turns out) and was told that the contract was likely unenforceable. The company acknowledged this but asked me to sign anyways and at that point, I had to walk away.

Employment contracts that try to take ownership of side projects or otherwise unrelated endeavors are also an issue that should be dealt with. Every time I sign a contract I have to look for some clause that might be used to try to take control of a business that has existed for years before my employment. Again, these might be unenforceable but a legal battle with a large company is enough to scare me off most of the time.

I also think we should think more broadly about the job-seeking process and the imbalances that exist there. The amount of unpaid time job seekers have to put into applying to jobs because of cover letters, interviewing, and unpaid "test projects" can be quite large. It is made worse because many applications are being autoscreened so the resume and letter someone writes never gets read by a human so they could have been saved a lot of time if they were just screened out of the process using just a resume before having to put in additional work.

I am not sure what legislation could help with that but I imagine some enterprising politician could get behind a "job-seekers bill of rights". This could include things like requiring responses to applications and posting salary upfront. (This is sometimes done as a pay equality measure but it would help all job-seekers)

In particular for jobs in politics, you will sometimes find postings for campaigns that list neither the candidate nor the party. I imagine some are willing to work for anyone but that seems like the minority of people who want to work on campaigns. We should try to avoid wasting the time of people who are looking for jobs. Campaigns also seem to use job applications to build their mailing list for donations which seems pretty shady to do.

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