> The best way to stop this is not taking jobs that require a non-compete agreement

Easy to say, and then one day you get an offer for a job you really, really like.

> By signing offers with non-competes, you're literally acknowledging this is acceptable.

Not at all. Very few (if any) of these terms are legally binding. The only way to actually find out is to have them challenged in court.

If anything, the only way to stop this is for people to keep accepting jobs tied to non compete agreements so that we can finally see how legally viable they are. Seems like we are about to find out.

I understand that California is not for everyone for any number of reasons but if you stay in CA non-competes are basically irrelevant to your career.

> Easy to say, and then one day you get an offer for a job you really, really like. Then weigh the cost/benefit of accepting it or negotiate with the company to change it.

My point is not whether non-competes are legally binding. It's the fact that when you sign a contract, you and your employer are agreeing with the terms set forth in good faith. You shouldn't sign employment agreements that you have no intention of fulfilling.

Starting a new job should be a good thing for both the employer and employee. Both should be on the same page.

As someone who has walked away from a really nice offer because of the malicious (and I used that exact word when talking with the hiring manager) terms in the non-compete, not everyone can afford to walk away.

Oddly, before that incident I was in the "man, just negotiate them, it's all right" camp. Like the joke about a liberal is a conservative who hasn't been mugged yet, it really changed my outlook, and I'm now in favor of legislation nuking those things from orbit.

> You shouldn't sign employment agreements that you have no intention of fulfilling.

Why not if some clauses of the contract are unenforceable or simply illegal and you really want that job?

I don't get why, if you signed a non-compete in good faith, you don't just honor the agreement ? Either stick up for your morals and don't take the job because of the non-compete or actually accept it not only as a legally binding contract (because they are rarely enforceable) but a moral one. I've caught employees poaching customer lists after they turned in their 2 weeks, verifiable by security software and video camera evidence. We didn't prosecute. Why shouldn't a business have non-competes though ? It's just to protect themselves from situations like I described. I wish the world was a happy place where things like this didn't happen, but it isn't, and not protecting yourself from this kind of thing is just asking to get screwed over. Nobody is a perfect judge of character.