Re:Hiring Developers: You're Doing It Wrong
by PlayerJ on Wednesday March 30, 2011 @03:33AM
(#2386219)
To be honest everywhere that I have applied as a programmer has either had the 24/7 rule or a contract so unspecific that it leads me to think that they will try to take ownership of something I write if it does indeed lead to a valuable product. As such I am usually working on projects in my free time but I rarely want to tell them about a real project for fear of them trying to take it. It creates a difficult situation in an interview, when I have projects but I dont want to discuss them.
Re:Hiring Developers: You're Doing It Wrong
by khafra on Wednesday March 30, 2011 @01:52PM
(#2388333)
Have you tried asking for a written addition to the contract saying work you do on your own time, unrelated in subject to what you do for the company, belongs to you? Contracts aren't always necessarily one-size-fits-all, and if that's the only thing keeping you from a good job it might be an option worth exploring.
Re:Hiring Developers: You're Doing It Wrong
by perlgeek on Wednesday March 30, 2011 @07:44AM
(#2386744)
Since this is a story from a German company... such a 24/7 clause can't be enforced in .de, it's void.
The company can claim inventions you made during work hours, and can forbid you to compete with them directly in your free time. That's it.
And in some states (like washington), by law, work done on your own time with your own equipment that does not directly compete is yours too. (And the law even says you have to put it in the contract!)
It's not an issue for me only because I work for my own firm, something I had to do to get out of such bizarre situations. But it's an issue for many programmers who are told that working on their own projects is stealing time and mental energy from the company. I can certainly sympathize with the talented developer who, told that the company owns all his private projects done in his own time on his own equipment, simply chooses to leave at 5 and spend time with his family rather than have passionate private work seized and shelved by a firm who had nothing to do with its creation. It's really the rational choice if you think about it and something very valuable in a developer is rational thinking.