Since non-compete agreements are contracts, contractual damages may be awarded. However, such damage is speculative and probably difficult to prove. The most common way to impose non-compete bans in Colorado is by default, that is, the court will order a party to stop doing something. In this case, the competition. A non-compete agreement limits where and for whom a worker can work after the termination of the employment relationship. Such restrictions are generally intended to protect the former employer from the fact that its trade secrets are disclosed to a competitor by a former worker or that a new employee has wasted resources to push him to introduce these new skills into a competing company. Non-competition prohibitions generally prohibit a worker from working for a competitor for a certain period of time after leaving the company and in a given geographic area. It is easy to show for senior management positions, but it can be difficult to determine whether a superior is a “key man” or a technician who is the only one with knowledge of the operation. As with the exception of two (trade secrets), the key is to document everything. If your new recruitment actually controls the company and has “key man” responsibilities, your employee agreement should explicitly specify these things. But it is not enough to list only the tasks that have not actually been completed. The employee should play a role at the heart of the company and have access to sensitive information about companies, which must be protected from public knowledge. If a business owner is able to prove that he was in a management position, had access to information about the company and was monitoring staff, it is likely that a Colorado court would maintain the non-competition measures.
Contractors should use this status as a guide to the development of their employment contracts to ensure that the non-compete clause is maintained (but a better choice is for a small business lawyer to develop the employment contract!) The most important thing an entrepreneur or franchisor could do if they believe they have a business secret is to document as much as possible the value of trade secrecy, the amount of time or resources it took to develop it, put in place measures to protect it and how unique it is. Getting each vendor and staff to sign a confidentiality clause to work in the field is a great way to show that steps have been taken to protect the information. In addition, the admission of managers who process information highlights restrictive measures to prevent others from obtaining information.