Recruiter Adam Klug knows what really happens when non-competes enter the hiring conversation.
Adam has seen four-year restrictions kill otherwise perfect job offers and he's learned that most people who sign these agreements never actually read them.
Our conversation gets into the mechanics of non-competes: what courts actually enforce, why geography clauses written in the 1980s don't make sense in a remote work world, and how one three-way negotiation between an old employer, new employer, and the employee caught in the middle actually worked out.
I break down the legal side of non-competes:
→ The "blue pencil doctrine" that lets judges rewrite your agreement.
→ The difference between non-competes, non-solicits, and non-poaching clauses.
→ Why continued employment counts as legal consideration even when it feels like coercion.
We also talk about what most business owners never do: dust off their employment documents and ask whether they still make sense.
1:23 Meet Adam Klug: Recruiting in Tight Labor Markets
5:02 Defining Non-Competes and Restrictive Covenants
8:24 Michigan's Blue Pencil Doctrine Explained
11:05 When Non-Competes Kill Job Offers
14:01 The Legal Concept of Consideration
16:07 Warm and Fuzzies vs. The Breakup
25:44 Alternatives to Non-Competes: Non-Solicits and Non-Poaching
29:56 Non-Disparagement in the Social Media Age
35:19 Will There Ever Be a National Standard?
42:06 Best Practices for Recruiters Navigating Restrictions
53:00 Helping Candidates Understand Their Current Agreements
1:03:08 Why Companies Need to Dust Off Their Documents
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This episode is brought to you by Fausone & Grysko, PLC
https://www.thefgfirm.law/