A Nebraska non-compete agreement is typically signed between an employer and an employee. The goal is to protect the employer by prohibiting the employee from revealing proprietary information related to the company during or after their term of employment.
Reasonable Uses and Objections
- Enforceable when terminated without cause? – Not decided.
- Employee non-solicitation agreement permitted? – Not decided.
- Customer non-solicitation agreements permitted? – Yes.
- Does continuing employment equal sufficient consideration? – Yes.
Legally Enforceable in Nebraska?
Yes, a non-compete agreement is legally enforceable in Nebraska. As long as it is considered reasonably necessary to protect legitimate interests and not overly oppressive to the employee, it can be enforced.
What’s Protected?
There are several categories of information that can be protected by a Nebraska non-compete agreement. For example, trade secrets owned by the company can be shielded from disclosure by a non-compete agreement between an employer and employee.
Other confidential information related to the company can also be protected by the non-compete agreement. In general, any information that an employer would seek to shield from a competitor can be protected by a non-compete agreement.
Reasonable Use and Exemptions
In Nebraska, non-compete agreements should be limited in time and scope. The goal is to give employers the ability to protect information related to their business; however, the agreements cannot be unduly oppressive to employees, so there has to be a clear time, scope, and geographic limitation.
If the non-compete agreement appears to be without limits, it could be hard to defend in court.
Limitations on Time
A Nebraska non-compete agreement shouldn’t be any longer than is completely necessary. It’s unlikely to hold up in court if the duration of the non-compete is unfair to the employee.
Geographical Limitations
The law surrounding non-compete agreements in Nebraska does not specify a specific geographic limitation; however, remember that the law says that the agreement cannot be unduly harsh or oppressive to the employee. Therefore, the geographic scope needs to coincide with the general interests of the business.
If the language is overly broad, or if the geographic limitation is considered unduly harsh, then the agreement may be difficult to defend in court. Therefore, the agreement has to specify the time and scope under which the agreement can be enforced, and this includes geographical limitations.
Sample
Below, download a free Nebraska non-compete agreement template in PDF and Word format:
