Fwd: Responses - Non Competes

Fwd: Responses - Non Competes

Julia Fry

10/21/2019

Hello Team,

I have included the responses to my proposed question:

What is a mutually beneficial distance and duration for practitioner
non competes?

I have ensured all responses remained confidential. Thank you for your
transparency and commitment to our community.

Responses:

I have a 50 mile, 2 year non-compete

I have been hit with two of these in the past. One I won and one cost
me 6 figures.

I think the best form of a non-compete is to run a good company where
people WANT to work

50 miles from any office (O&P and therapy!). I think they had over
600 offices at the time

If I leave - Non-Compete is enforceable and I am bound to what i signed.

If they laid me off, Non-Compete is not enforceable, as they can't
infringe upon your right to make a living. You may get a cease and
desist letter, but it isn't worth the paper its on.

In my case, they gave me a month salary with an updated Non-Compete,
shortened to 3 months. It worked out for me, as I worked outside the
non-compete until it was up.

that will vary with each company model and each practitioners area of
responsibility. If practitioner A only services certain facilities
and referral sources he should only be restricted to those he has a
relationship with. Cookie cutter non competes should really not be
used

Distance should be 20 mile radius. That will allow someone to at least
take a long drive to another job but keep their life intact

I have 2 years and 100 miles

Many states non-competes are not enforceable at all, but others will
not enforce if the clinician is terminated. In that instance he\she is
free to do whatever they choose since the contract was terminated by
the employer in its entirety.

It won't hold up to a court challenge no matter what

I think the best form of a non-compete is to run a good company where
people WANT to work

The hardship they endure by having to work 25 miles away when they
leave is minimal compared to the potential impact of the many staff
who continue to service the patients, some who feel abandoned because
of the practitioner who left, and potential negative impacts to the
business that are very real when losing a staff member on many levels

50 miles from any established office of the current employer for a
term of 1 year.

We do a 50-mile square radius of our offices for a term of 1 year

A lot of states do not allow non competes right to work states

I had a 2 year 100 mile non-compete

Overall I do not see them in a positive light and consider them
another of the many ideas that have prevented our profession from
actually growing into the truly professional status that we
idealistically think that we are. They keep the Orthotics and
Prosthetics profession in the same league as used car salesmen.

A relatively new twist with non-competes is that some licensing states
specify what distances can be enforced on licensed practitioners

I think the best mutually beneficial position is no non-competes

Non-competes are not for the employees benefit, to only protect the
employer. The question of reasonable distance depends on where you
work, reasonable in New York City may only be a few miles while if you
work in a sparsely populated area the distance may be 150 miles.

I have my practitioners sign a good faith agreement that doesn't limit
where they practise but does not allow them to take my patients if
they leave. It gives me full legal rights to sue them for damages if
they take my patient should they practise locally.

--
Julia D. Fry, CPO # 04098