Non compete clause. HELP. Thank you.

Good afternoon po. Sir/ maam itatanong ko lng po kasi last year i've signed a non complete clause po sa company ko, na bawal po akong lumipat sa competitor hanggat wala pang 2 years. Walang nka-indicate na amount if ever na mkikipag settle nlng ako.Tapos this year june po nagresigned n po ako , Lumipat po aq ng ibng line ng products to sell, kaso po hindi po sumasapat ung kinikita ko sa work being a single mom at ako din po Ang bread winner sa family ko.Until nag opening ung sa direct competitor nmin, which offer good packages and specially benefits na mkikinabang ung anak ko so i grabbed it.
Then nlaman po ng h.r. Namin un. So they called my attention, at nkipag usap tru phone at dun n po ako mag start mag makaawa, iexplain ung side ko at mkiusap kung ano pong pwede kong gawin pra ma waive po ung kontrata kasi po nanghihinayang po aq sa oportunity dahil alam ko po n malaking tulong un sa family ko lalo na't ganito po ang estado nmin sa buhay.
Pero sabi po nila once na mag start daw po ako e magpapadala po sila ng letter sa inapplyan ko pong company na may pinirmahan po akong non compete clause sknila, hihingi lng po aq ng payo maam /sir. Nhihirapan at nguhuluhan n din po ako. Meron po b kong mgagawa ? At maapektuhan po ba nito ung inaplyan ko pong new company? maraming salamat po

naiintindihan mo din naman siguro ang sitwasyon ng pinapasukan mo ngayon kung bakit sila merong non-compete clause para sa kanilang empleyado?

Yes po.. That's why nkikipag usap po aq sknila if ano
Pong pwede kong gawin. At kya humihingi din ako ng advice...thank you.

http://www.accralaw.com/publications/restrictive-covenants-employment-contracts-their-validity-and-enforceability

Generally kasi, contracts are held to be valid as long as nagkaintindihan ang parehong party sa terms and conditions nito. Employment contracts also follow the general rule, as long as yung employer di nag-exercise ng dominance over the contract's stipulation and di sya contrary to law and morals.

Yung mga non-compete clause (NCC), valid yung mga yan as far as sa mga kaso dito na dinesisyunan ng Supreme Court as long as reasonable yung limitation na nakasaad sa NCC sa contract. Yung link sa taas, andun yung sources and conditions as to how such clauses are weighed upon by the courts when deciding upon their validity.

Ayon sa story mo, you resigned and the said NCC na part ng contract mo is still effective. Two years yung period. May workaround para di maging effective yung NCC, and that is to find a work that is not related from your previous employment.

Yung NCC kasi, ginawa yan para di masayang yung efforts ng employers on training their employees to further their careers, tapos bigla nalang aalis kapag may nag-offer ng malaking sahod sa kabilang kumpanya. Kawawa naman ang employers kung ganun. For fairness yung main reason bakit may NCC sa mga ibang employment contracts, lalo na kung yung employment mo had access to sensitive data and confidential company information...

Kung gusto mo parin magpursue ng katanungan regarding your situation, I highly advise that you go to the nearest Public Attorney's Office (PAO) or the nearest DOLE regional office para makapagtanong ka kung anong pwede mong gawin in your current scenario.

Good luck! I hope nakatulong ako.

http://archive.sunstar.com.ph/davao/opinion/2013/10/16/lee-non-compete-clause-309015

For your perusal as well. Valid usually ang mga NCC, unless otherwise proven by competent evidence. Keep any employment contracts you have with your former and employer, and try to show them to the PAO or DOLE for them to be able to scrutinize the validity of the NCC and the contract itself.

Hello po Inline po sa NCC,
IT Tech. Support po ako sa previous company ko, exclusive lang po kami sa support ng isang client, but then nag resign po ako since yung client namin is magkakaroon na ng ibang
vendor, and eventually aalisin narin kami sa company since exclusive lang kami for that client. After resigning po nagwork ako sa isang retail industry then after 3 months, may nag offer po sakin na direct competitor na mag support po sa isang client, which happens to be our exclusive client before.
May Non-compete clause po sa contract na pinirmahan ko before, ask ko po if madedemanda ako?
Wala po kasi ako naging formal training before sakanila and yung ibang task don is knowledge ko na before ako pumasok sa kanila, and lower version po ng system yung before ko sakanila now po is higher version na po yung
ginagamit ni client.
Sa ngayun po is di pa ko pumapasok sa kanila kasi natatakot ako sa NCC, alam po ng company na nag offfer na may NCC ako kasi sinabi ko sa kanila, sabi nila po nasasaakin daw po yun kung ipapaalam ko, pero okay daw po ako sa kanila mag work kasi in need po sila ng manpower.

Ano po ang dapat kong gawin, gusto ko po kasi magwork na ulit sa IT company.

Thanks po sa mga sagot nyo.

pwede kang ihabla dahil sa di pag tupad sa NCC mo.

salamat po sa pag sagot. di naman na po nila hawak yung client e. At tinangal nadin po nila yung support dun sa company nila since na establish lang naman po sila ng support dahil sa client nila nayun. Okay parin po ba yung clause nila nayun kahit ala na yung support dept. sa company nila? Grounds parin po ba yun para ihabla nila ako? Ngayun po kasi ala po ako pinanghahawakan contrata, nag request palang po ako last last week and nag pa follow up until now po di pa po nila biningay contract.

wala ka na sa kumpanya, di nila kailangan pa magbigay ng kopya ng kontrata.

wala po bang rights yung employee na humingi ng copy ng contract to fact-check lang po yung agreement dahil di naman sila nagbigay ng copy ng contract when i'm still connected sa company. And pano po kung di naman nila nalaman na nag work ako sa competitor sa loob ng 2 years? Pano if after 3 years na nila nalaman, ano po magiging consequence?

hello po pa advice po if may bisa parin yung "2 years NCC" kung after 3 years na nila nalaman na nag wowork o nag work ako sa competitor? thanks.

You will be liable for breach of contract. And the amount of damages you are going to pay, depends on the economic standing or status of the company. Play safe if i were you, even if they discovered it on the 3rd year, they can still sue you for breach of contract.

Rank and file lang po ako at specific client lang yung isu-support ko, which happens na old client nila. Can i challenge the NCC? Reasonable po bang tawagan yung dati kong employer at kausapin regarding sa NCC?

wala naman kinalaman ang pagiging rank-and-file.

meron kang pinirmahan so unless mapawalang-bisa yan, kailangan mo pa rin tumupad sa nakasaad.