Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!cornell!biar!trebor
From: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Rigid Mac Programmer's Employee Agreement - Help!!
Message-ID: <624@biar.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jun 89 19:51:12 GMT
References: <8906101404.AA09781@jade.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Organization: Biar Games, Inc.
Lines: 30

In article <8906101404.AA09781@jade.berkeley.edu> DFJOHN01@ULKYVX.BITNET (GMAIL_FLAG_PERSONAL_NAME) writes:
>Greetings.
>
>I am hopefully about to become employed by a very fast growing Macintosh
>software development firm and need some advise FAST. I received the Employee
>Agreement in the mail, and had problems with only one section of the
>Agreement.

Under that agreement, if you do any work that is in any way related to
the company's business (and this could be construed to be ``computer
programming of any sort'') it belongs to the company.

DO NOT SIGN IT.  If you, working at home, build the better MacMousetrap,
your employer will own it.

The agreement is totally one-sided in favor of the Employer (guess whose
lawyer drew it up).  If you sign it, you are a slave.

A proper employment contract should provide guidelines for defining what
work is company related, and what isn't.  It should protect the company
from you going into competition against it, but at the same time, should
give you some rights to your own original work.

Go invest some $ in a hour or two of legal advice if you have any intention
of doing any computer work outside your potential new job.

-- 
Robert J Woodhead, Biar Games, Inc.  !uunet!biar!trebor | trebor@biar.UUCP
``The worst thing about being a vampire is that you can't go to matinees
  and save money anymore.''