> the second bill, S6748, would, among other things, prohibit employers from entering into or maintaining non-compete agreements with workers, absent a “good faith basis” to believe a non-compete agreement is enforceable.
There should be a more general law about this. Drafting any contract without a good faith belief that it's provisions would be valid if tested by a court should be illegal.
Companies have the good faith belief that employees would be so outgunned in a legal fight that most of the time they won't even challenge invalid clauses.
Hence the need for a law. Something along the lines of:
* Anyone who was given a contract with a provision that the drafter knew was unenforceable can sue.
* If they win, they get, punitive damages, actual damages, and lawyer's fees.
* It is not necessary to alledge any damages, or even that the provision in question was ever relevant.
Do this, and there will be law firms looking and advertising for clients. For cases as obvious as the typical non-compete the law would be so clear that lawyers would have no issue working on contingency.
Employers can drive up litigation costs all they want. Plenty of law firms can handle it, and are already used to it; and at thd end of the process, the employer would just pay the cost.
It would be especially valuable if there was also a government registry of known unenforceable provisions that employers are assumed by the law to be aware of. This would cut off arguments regarding "knowledge"/
I would also include provisions in the law to force employers to inform explicitly every other person who signed the contract that the clause is not valid.
> It would be especially valuable if there was also a government registry of known unenforceable provisions that employers are assumed by the law to be aware of.
Hah, there's exactly that in Poland wrt. consumer protection - "klauzule niedozwolone"
yes, because the average person is so outgunned[1] by corporate lawyers and their deep pockets which means they can risk it, the law is effectively whatever you can scare someone into believing.
[1]: it's absurd that "gunned" is even a thing, talk about a complete lack of justice when you think about it.
There should be a more general law about this. Drafting any contract without a good faith belief that it's provisions would be valid if tested by a court should be illegal.