Non-Solicitation of Employees in Kansas City

There are various types of non-compete and non-solicitation clauses that exist in many employment contracts. The most typical is a non-compete clause, which stipulates that employees cannot take up work with a competitor of the employer in the same field for a given amount of time. A non-solicitation of clients clause mandates that employees cannot give clients away to another company, cannot take them for themselves if they leave their employer, and cannot talk afoul of their current employer. The third type of these non-compete/non-solicitation clauses is a non-solicitation of employees clause. This clause is an agreement between the employer and the employee that:

• If the employee is fired or quits his or her job, the employer will not seek to replace him or her with employees from a similar competing company; and
• After leaving the employer, the employee will not go back to his or her colleagues and attempt to bring them over to the competing company.

As such, a non-solicitation of employees clause seeks to balance the employee and employer’s best interests by giving the employee more job security and by giving the employer more assurance that their current staff will remain with them.

The Point of Non-Solicitation of Employees Agreements

As with many companies throughout all types of industries, your employer has invested time, energy, and finances into your job training. In fact, according to Monster, U.S. employers spend $4.5 billion annually on training and development programs for their employees. Employees who work in software development, for example, spend months and years training to be able to do their jobs. With so much invested in their employees, employers want to make sure that they make a return on their investment by holding onto their highly skilled workforce for years to come. A non-compete agreement accomplishes part of this goal by making it more difficult for employees to leave for another company. A non-solicitation of clients clause makes it easier for the employer to hold onto their clients. And finally, a non-solicitation of employees agreement further gives the company more assurance that their current workforce will continue to produce for them into the future by staving off job offers and encouragement to leave the company for a competitor.

Is the Clause Enforceable?

Studies show that changing jobs every two years results in an average pay increase of 15%, while the average salary increase for a U.S. company is just 3%, according to Forbes. This shows an obvious advantage to move to a new employer as often as possible. When employees figure this out, it can be hard to keep them from leaving, which is why employers come up with non-compete and non-solicitation of employees clauses. However, some of these agreements are overly harsh and not enforceable.

Call a Kansas City Employment Lawyer Today

Whether you are about to sign an employment contract or already have and believe that the non-solicitation of employees clause is too strict, an attorney can help. Contact one of our Kansas City lawyers with HKM Employment Attorneys today.