Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

Hi Will – as an intellectual Property worker (software engineer/designer) married to a consulting artist (Powerpoint/photoshop specialist) I’d like to call to your attention the following article and urge you to support reform of this well-meaning-but-misguided piece of legislation. I’m guessing that a fair amount of your constituents fall into the “independent consultant” definition — this potentially [...]

Will, can you tell us about your plans for the noncompete reform bill in the upcoming legislative session? Thanks. Happy New Year to all!

Read the MELA endorsement letter here!

I have worked as a contract IT project manager and computer programmer for the past 15 years. A recruiting agency will find me work, I will work the contract as staff augmentation for a company and usually the same agency will not find me other work before I can find another contract with a different [...]

Does anyone know if a non compete covenant can be initiated between an employer and it’s client without the knowledge of there employees.  I am involved in this situation at the present time.  I was laid off in December of 2009 and seeked employment with one of my past employers clients.  They are not a competitor.  [...]

It’s critical to reduce the length of non-competes as the longevity of startup companies decreases, reducing the average job tenure for many startup employees. During the tech bubble the average job tenures I observed on many resumes decreased dramatically. The trend appears to have continued unabated since then, which is easy to confirm with a [...]

Legislation to revise the law of non-competition agreements took a step forward this week. The Committee on Labor and Human Resources reported out a bill with a favorable recommendation.

So, we all know now that companies seek to protect certain intellectual property and business interests. What about the interests of the individuals working for these companies to have a career? I’ve posted a couple of times now. My former employer finally stopped threatening me after I gave no response to a drafted complaint they [...]

I have been a Nurse Recruiter for over 10 years. In 2005 I accepted a position with a local firm and was made to sign a non-compete. For three consecutive years  I was their top biller, and two of those, made President’s  Club. When the economy turned, my business dried up, and I was not able to [...]

Cape and Islands Public Radio (WCAI) is running an excellent clip from reporter Molly Connors.

Representative Ehrlich and I are pleased to now publish a next draft for continued input. A hearing on the legislation will be held at 10:30AM on October 7 in Room A-2 in the state house.

Recently I spoke with a colleague who has been unemployed for 6 months after being laid off from a large publicly traded employer.  He was an individual contributor engineer, working on implementing new features in a fairly mature piece of software; certainly not a position you could consider in any way as having access to strategic [...]

In June I left a company I worked at for 7 years. I was being forced to work as much as 80hrs weekly on salary. I have a wife, two kids, one with special needs. Before leaving and at the urging of certain people, I checked my personnel file to ensure I had nothing in [...]

Since the BBO symposium a number of interesting exchanges have occurred by e-mail and in the blogosphere. Here are some links and thoughts.

Hi Bill, I’ve recently left a company 6 weeks to the day. They are a contract manufacturer serving the medical device industry. I left to go to a competitor. My situation was such that I was being forced to work 70-80hrs each week on salary. I was being held accountable for being a project manager [...]

You can find plenty of press coverage about why non-competes ostensibly thwart recruiting top talent to start-ups. What you don’t hear about is how non-competes ultimately help new and established companies alike to retain the talent they’ve invested in, further nurtured and who have become star employees due to their rewarding tenure and success. How can today’s start-ups hope to mature into successful firms if their top performers are easily poached?

As a consultant in optical design, I see numerous contracts every year.  There are now terms of non-compete buried within simply NDAs which are required for initial discussions.  Such tactics seek a commitment without consideration.  I reject such NDAs by requesting compensation for my commitment during a term of service.  Historically, my rejection of commitment [...]

Industry representatives claim that non-competition agreements are necessary for companies to protect their intellectual property, more specifically to protect their “trade secrets.” On the contrary, a non-competition (N-C) agreement is the wrong tool for protecting confidential intellectual property (IP). The primary effect of N-C agreements is to suppress competition in the labor market and N-C agreements are unethical.

this proposed law would now be watered down to the point that it will have little impact over its current misuse. With no protection for those making over $100K, mid level managment and design staff is stuck with the same restraint of trade.

Representative Ehrlich agreement and I have reached agreement on a draft that we both feel currently feel comfortable with. We look forward to further vetting and input. Formal hearings will occur in the Fall.