I don't really understand what noncompete clauses are for. I would have thought that the law already provides for suing an "unfaithful servant". Surely when you take paid employment, there's an implied obligation to take due care of trade secrets.
The last contract I signed (1 sheet of A4) bound me not to take work with a "competitor" for 6 months after quitting. Since the employer's clients were all local, I took that as meaning I was not to take a job with a web-shop in the same town. And I thought 6 months seemed reasonable - after all, we weren't developing patentable inventions, we were just making websites.
[Edit] I think the purpose of the clause was mainly to stop me taking customer lists to the competitor. I'd have thought that fell squarely into the "unfaithful servant" bag - it's a scummy way for an employee to carry on.
The last contract I signed (1 sheet of A4) bound me not to take work with a "competitor" for 6 months after quitting. Since the employer's clients were all local, I took that as meaning I was not to take a job with a web-shop in the same town. And I thought 6 months seemed reasonable - after all, we weren't developing patentable inventions, we were just making websites.
[Edit] I think the purpose of the clause was mainly to stop me taking customer lists to the competitor. I'd have thought that fell squarely into the "unfaithful servant" bag - it's a scummy way for an employee to carry on.