親愛的安妮：我是一名手機應用開發人員，最近被業內一家一流公司聘用。最初的時候我非常興奮，因為這不僅意味著一次提升，而且新工作的薪酬非?？捎^，還有誘人的特別待遇。但現在，我卻有些不知所措。因為新公司希望我在開始新工作之前，簽署一份競業禁止協議。協議規定我離開這家公司一年內，禁止為其他軟件公司工作。

????之前，從沒有人要求我簽署這樣一份協議，所以我不知道我該怎么做。我可以試著協商一下協議的條件嗎？比如，在簽字之前，我能否要求把一年期限縮短到六個月？——NNP

親愛的NNP：你當然可以要求把期限縮短（雖然失業六個月依然非常漫長），不過，如果你的要求遭到拒絕也不必感到吃驚。

????“如果在你所在的領域，你是真正的明星，可以得到許多份相互競爭的工作機會，你可能還有談判的籌碼，”埃里克?布勞特曼說。布勞特曼是紐約市Abrams Fensterman律師事務所的勞動仲裁律師，曾多次作為雇主和員工的委托律師參與競業禁止協議的協商?！安贿^，99%的情況是，人們并沒有討價還價的能力。所以，如果他們想要得到工作，就只能在協議上簽字。公司占據了絕對主動。這也是法院通常并不喜歡這類協議的原因?！?/p>

????這類協議確實不討人喜歡。雇主的律師通常非常清楚，挑戰競業禁止條款的前員工往往能夠獲勝。最近的一個例子：六月下旬的費菲爾德訴Premier Dealer Services公司一案，伊利諾伊上訴法院一致判定，一名新員工在兩年內辭去原先的工作之后，放棄了去其他公司工作的權利，但并沒有獲得充分的補償。因此，除非雇主向新員工支付大筆簽約獎金，或給予員工包括工資與福利在內的其他好處，否則競業禁止條款將被視為無效。

????你并未提到自己住在哪個州，不過我敢打賭一定不是加利福尼亞州，因為在加州，要求新員工簽署競業禁止協議實際上是不合法的。正因為如此，其他許多州正在努力發動各州的高科技行業效仿加州，各地立法者們也開始對這類協議實行或考慮實行限制。布勞特曼說：“如果工程師和其他高技能人才無法自由流動，其他州便很難與加州的高科技行業競爭。雇主們如何吸引新的人才？所以，為了經濟增長，許多州開始限制競業禁止協議?！?/p>

????例如，馬薩諸塞州的法律已經禁止雇主要求醫生、護士和社會工作者簽署該類協議，而且立法機構目前正在考慮一項法案（眾議院法案2293）。除了其他變化外，這項法案還將把競業禁止的期限限制在六個月以內。明尼蘇達州的措施（H.F. No. 506）是徹底禁止大多數競業禁止條款，弗吉尼亞州也有類似的提案（眾議院法案1187），旨在禁止一切競業禁止條款和期限。

Dear Annie: I was recruited away from my old company by a major player in my industry -- I'm a mobile app developer -- and at first I was really excited, because this move would be a step up, and comes with a sizable raise and very attractive perks. But now, I'm a little taken aback. My new employer wants me to sign a non-compete agreement before I start my new job. Among other things, it says I can't work for any other software company for one year if I leave this one.

????I've never been asked to sign one of these until now, so I'm not sure what my options are. Can I try to negotiate the terms? For example, can I request that the one-year period be cut down to six months, before I sign? -- No Name Please

Dear NNP: You can certainly request to have the time period shortened (although six months is still an awfully long time to be out of work), but don't be surprised if the answer is "no."

????"If you're a real star in your field, and can point to multiple competing job offers, you might have some leverage," says Eric Broutman, an employment attorney at New York City-based law firm Abrams Fensterman who has haggled over many non-competes, on both employers' and employees' sides of the table. "But 99% of the time, people really have no bargaining power so, if they want the job, they just sign. The company holds all the cards here. That's why courts generally don't like these agreements."

????Indeed, they don't. As your employer's lawyers are no doubt well aware, ex-employees who challenge non-competes usually win. One recent example: In late June, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled unanimously, in Fifield v. Premier Dealer Services, that a new employee who quit his old job within two years had not yet received adequate compensation for giving up the right to work anywhere he pleased. So, unless an employer has paid a new hire a substantial signing bonus or some other extra chunk of change besides salary and benefits, the non-compete would be considered void.

????You don't say which state you live in, but I'm betting it isn't California, where requiring a new hire to sign a non-compete is, for all practical purposes, illegal. That's why, with so many other states trying to jump-start their own high-tech industries, lawmakers all over the country have placed, or are now considering, restrictions on these contracts. "It's hard to compete with California's tech sector if engineers and other skilled employees are not free to move around," notes Broutman. "How are employers going to attract fresh talent? So, in the interest of economic growth, most states now are moving toward discouraging non-compete agreements."

????Massachusetts law, for instance, already forbids employers from asking doctors, nurses, and social workers to sign such agreements, and the legislature is now mulling a bill (House Bill 2293) that, among other changes, would limit the time period covered by any non-compete to no more than six months. A Minnesota measure (H.F. No. 506) would completely ban most non-competes, and a similar proposal in Virginia (House Bill 1187) aims to prohibit all non-competes, period.