No compete clauses in "mutual" agreements

Long story short, I applied to a company for an out of my current area position for short term employment. They contacted myself back and told me I can't work for them because of an agreement between my current employer and them for a year, once I depart the current employer. The current employer doesn't not compete within the area I am looking at going to, like states away. Only reason I applied to as the "only" position available on my research that isn't 3 hrs and the other side of the state away from where I want to be located.

In short, I just want to be closer to my not getting any younger father who lives by himself and has multiple health problems and unfinished car projects that I really don't want to finish if he passes.

Any help available in GRM land?

Is this job something that is only done at that location, like a manager at a specific store? Would you be doing the same task at the new location? Is it something that could possibly complete against the former company, such as telephone sales all over the country? I guess if the proposed company has signed something with the current company, they aren't going to touch you even if you aren't competing.

BTW, did you sign a no-compete form?

Since this sounds to be a agreement to which you aren't even a party, I don't think there is anything you can do short of quitting your current job and re-applying in a year. If the new company wanted to hire you really bad, it would fall to them to reach out to your current employer and work something out regarding their contractual obligations with each other.

It sounds like they aren't even interested in considering you, so you are probably out of luck.

Talk it over with a lawyer. It's recently been brought to my attention the local fire alarm places have no legal bounds in the states eyes with their no compete clauses. Whether it's industry, state, or whatever, there could be different rules than just a piece of paper may suggest.

What is enforceable in terms of non-compete clauses in employment agreements varies state to state. Talk to an employment attorney in the state you going to be working in. You may find out you are perfectly within your rights to work where ever you please doing exactly what you are doing now.

Without too much detail, I'm a registered nurse. I want to travel home for a 13 week contract, typical contract length, to make sure my dad is ok and I can also get all his crap lined out. The companies in question have exclusive rights for nurses, meaning my current employer and the agency that supplies them nurses when they are short staffed. I can see their point from that it keeps them from directly soliciting for staff on the agency side. But I applied on my own free will and without regard to even knowing anything about this issue. So I'm not seeing the connection but I do understand the potential reasoning.

Did you sign up with the hospital or the agency, who signs your check?

Can you ask your employer if they would be willing to farm you out on a subcontract basis for a specific length of time?

So, company #2 would not pay you directly, they would pay company #1 for your services, and you would remain employed solely by company #1.

Sounds like you have a specific temporary personal need, and it would be in the interest of your employer to help you through this time.

I doubt you have any recourse regarding the new job, but you may be able to negotiate with your current employer.

Talk to a lawyer. Non-compete agreements are "not favored by the law" in most states and are especially suspect if they refer to a big geographic area.

In reply to TRoglodyte:

As of right now, I still work for the same hospital as I have for the past 3 yrs. the staffing agency is a completely new gig.

In reply to SVreX:

I doubt it with 7k other employees in their system.

Plus there are incentives with travel nursing that the current employer would flat out not cover like food and housing stipends.

It could be that hospital HR could talk to agency for personal leave of absence waiver? It is about your dad's health after all?

Are you represented by a union? This could be part of the agreement you referenced.

In reply to paranoid_android74:

No, no union.

Your a male nurse, which as I understand is in high demand. Barring any financial hardships that might prevent you from leaving, why not just quit (on good terms), tell your current employer about your situation and that you'd love to have a job when you return.

Have some good time chilling with dad, maybe work a part-time gig, and leave when your comfortable with his health.

I'm also doing it for the income side. The stipends are untaxed and free from tax. While I can stay with pops and "pay" for staying there, I've doubled/tripled my pay for the same hours worked. Even though I graduated, pass the NCLEX, and had my best year ever, I'm still in the hole. I still don't make enough.

Sounds like an agreement between the companies, not something that is binding to you.

I'm pretty sure Apple, Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies got in trouble for this kind of thing recently. They had a "no poaching" agreement that essentially worked to suppress wages.

Not sure if that helps, though.

eastsidemav wrote: Sounds like an agreement between the companies, not something that is binding to you.

But if the companies are interested in maintaining the agreement, they won't hire away from one another even if it is demonstrated that the agreement isn't legally binding.

eastsidemav wrote: Sounds like an agreement between the companies, not something that is binding to you. I'm pretty sure Apple, Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies got in trouble for this kind of thing recently. They had a "no poaching" agreement that essentially worked to suppress wages. Not sure if that helps, though.

I was thinking the same thing. He's not a union member, and even if he's signed a no-compete that's A: none of their business and B: most likely not enforceable.

Ranger50 wrote: I'm also doing it for the income side. The stipends are untaxed and free from tax. While I can stay with pops and "pay" for staying there, I've doubled/tripled my pay for the same hours worked. Even though I graduated, pass the NCLEX, and had my best year ever, I'm still in the hole. I still don't make enough.

Then I can see where you are screwed.

The reason why the "No Poaching" agreement is in place is so that hospitals don't loose all their staff to the contract world. Also so that the "Poaching Company" can provide contract staff to your employer when they are the ones hiring.

I was going to suggest that you apply to the hospital near your father directly, but I see that there is an ulterior motive on your part to go with the agency that has the "No Poaching" agreement with your employer.

I lived this type of agreement for years. I worked directly for The Cell Phone Company for 14 years (some years with Sprint, ATT and Nextel) My role for most those years was to deal with what we called Indirect Retail. This is any where you can purchase the phone and the salesperson is not a direct employee of the cell phone company. This would be Best Buy, Radio Shack, privately owned kiosks in the mall or private store. Myself (or in later years my staff) would visit these retailers like a manufacturer's rep and keep the salespeople educated on the current promotions, features, etc.

Sure enough, as an example, when it was time for me to hire, you would have someone who suffered through the difficulties of working for Radio Shack and maybe they did know the product inside and out. They would apply for the job and we would immediately reject them (and stifle there ability to better they life) because we had an "understanding" with Radio Shack that we would not hire away from them their people (much less their best people.)