While Texas courts generally disfavor non-compete agreements, they will enforce a non-compete covenant if it is executed for valid consideration, contains reasonable geographic, temporal, and activity restrictions, and protects the employer's legitimate business interests.
Employers do not need to notarize non-compete agreements. The dated signatures of a company representative, such as a manager or HR representative, and the employee are typically sufficient.
(c) Employee name agrees not to set up in business as a direct competitor of company name within a radius of number miles of company name and location for a period of number and measure of time (e.g., “four months” or “10 years”) following the expiration or termination of this agreement.
The following are the most common ways to get out of a non-compete agreement: Determine that the terms of the contract do not in fact prevent you from a desired course of action. Recognize when a non-compete contradicts the law. Negotiate a release agreement with the involved parties. Ignore the agreement.
While your non-compete would still potentially be enforceable, non-competes typically would only prevent you from working for a competitor. Since you indicate that the company that you are taking a position with is not a competitor, but is a customer, it is unlikely that your non-compete would apply.
The following are the most common ways to get out of a non-compete agreement: Determine that the terms of the contract do not in fact prevent you from a desired course of action. Recognize when a non-compete contradicts the law. Negotiate a release agreement with the involved parties. Ignore the agreement.
Under Texas law noncompete agreements can be enforceable if: The noncompete provision is part of an otherwise enforceable agreement. The non-compete requirement is supported by valid consideration (consideration meaning something of value provided to the employee).