Validity of NDA after termination Thread poster: Peter Motte
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Peter Motte Belgium Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Dutch + ...
A company send me an NDA today and the demanded that the NDA would be valid during 20 years ater termination of the contract. That means if they give me a short job of e.g. 100 euro's for Ford, I can't work for Ford anymore for 20 years after taking on that job. It also means that they could block my entire professionale life after a few months, by always giving me short jobs for various clients. I'm willng to agree that a certain time after the end of the contract is acceptabl... See more A company send me an NDA today and the demanded that the NDA would be valid during 20 years ater termination of the contract. That means if they give me a short job of e.g. 100 euro's for Ford, I can't work for Ford anymore for 20 years after taking on that job. It also means that they could block my entire professionale life after a few months, by always giving me short jobs for various clients. I'm willng to agree that a certain time after the end of the contract is acceptable, but 20 years is completely unacceptable. They don't even demand 20 years for the top jobs in F1. I wonder whether 20 years is even remotely legal. What are your thoughts on the subject? Does somebody has any idea about legally acceptable periods and about the validity of such long periods?
[Edited at 2020-11-23 20:31 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | |
Non-competition agreement | Nov 23, 2020 |
What you describe is not an NDA but a non-competition agreement. A non-competition agreement shouldn't survive much longer than a year after termination of contract. 20 years is totally unacceptable. | | |
Sadek_A Local time: 14:35 English to Arabic + ...
You, too, demand that they remain your bit** for 20 years, in writing! A "legal" contract is a 2-way street. | | |
Peter Motte Belgium Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Dutch + ... TOPIC STARTER Third-part agreement | Nov 23, 2020 |
The title of the document is actually "Third-part agreement", and on the webpage where they tell you to download and sign it, they write "Download NDA for signing". The note about the 20 year periode is part of it. So, it's actually more a "non-competition term" as part of the NDA. Anyway: thank you for clarifying it. BTW: the company has a very bad reputation on Proz.com when it comes to payment. So, it's apparantly not their only problem. | |
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If they have a bad payment reputation, why even bother reading their legal paperwork? Waste of time. Run. | | |
Peter Motte Belgium Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Dutch + ... TOPIC STARTER
I noticed their bad reputation a bit later. It was also a bit hidden. You have to jump from one connected company to the other. | | |
Lingua 5B Bosnia and Herzegovina Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Croatian + ... Double red flag then. | Nov 23, 2020 |
Peter Motte wrote: I noticed their bad reputation a bit later. It was also a bit hidden. You have to jump from one connected company to the other. Just find better companies then. 20 years? Their own company may not last that long. | | |
Peter Motte Belgium Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Dutch + ... TOPIC STARTER Dying company | Nov 23, 2020 |
I have the feeling they ask such impossable time because they are on the brink of collapsing, and are trying everything they can find to stay alive.
[Edited at 2020-11-23 22:44 GMT] | |
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Tina Vonhof (X) Canada Local time: 04:35 Dutch to English + ... It's still your decision | Nov 23, 2020 |
Could it have been an error and they meant 2 years? Even so, that's longer than the usual 1-year term. If there is anything in an NDA or other contract that you don't agree with, you can always just scratch it out and write in what you are willing to agree to. Often, it is accepted without further ado. | | |
Peter Motte Belgium Local time: 11:35 Member (2009) English to Dutch + ... TOPIC STARTER Mentioned more than once | Nov 24, 2020 |
Tina Vonhof wrote: Could it have been an error and they meant 2 years? It's mentioned three times, so I don't think it's a mistake. Anyway, as it turns out that they are bad payers, I don't want to take it up with them. | | |
Adieu Ukrainian to English + ... IS there actually any record of a non-compete for a CONTRACTOR successfully enforced? | Dec 30, 2020 |
Check. It might well be unenforceable. In this specific case, don't work with them anyway (and out them by name if they're known-dodgy and trying to hide it), but in other cases... check. Some ridiculous contract clauses are impossible to enforce and nobody even tries anyway. | | |
Kay Denney France Local time: 11:35 French to English
Peter Motte wrote: A company send me an NDA today and the demanded that the NDA would be valid during 20 years ater termination of the contract. That means if they give me a short job of e.g. 100 euro's for Ford, I can't work for Ford anymore for 20 years after taking on that job. It also means that they could block my entire professionale life after a few months, by always giving me short jobs for various clients. I'm willng to agree that a certain time after the end of the contract is acceptable, but 20 years is completely unacceptable. They don't even demand 20 years for the top jobs in F1. I wonder whether 20 years is even remotely legal. What are your thoughts on the subject? Does somebody has any idea about legally acceptable periods and about the validity of such long periods?
[Edited at 2020-11-23 20:31 GMT] To make sure you comply with the agreement, you'll need them to send you their entire client file. After all, it's not always clear who their end client is. I have been doing translations for a well-known French multinational, but the agency's client is the PR firm for that multinational, and I have no idea what the PR firm's name is. | | |