Having a business can offer many opportunities that other professions may not. Of course, you certainly had to work hard in order for your company to reach the level of success that it has, and you do not want to risk allowing trade secrets or other important information to slip into the wrong hands. As a result, you may carefully assess your potential employees and want them to sign an employment agreement.

Though these agreements may provide details regarding expectations, pay and other information pertinent to the day-to-day workings of the business, you may also want to include restrictive covenants. These covenants could work to ensure that your employees understand that certain actions are not allowed per your agreement.

Non-compete agreements

One type of restrictive covenant is a non-compete agreement. This type of agreement works to keep employees from working with a competitor in the near future. By applying this type of restriction, you may have the ability to reduce the likelihood that a competitor will gain useful information or skills regarding your business operations from your former employees.

However, in order for this type of agreement to be enforceable, your terms must include a period of time in which the agreement will last and the areas affected by the agreement.

Non-solicitation agreements

Another type of restrictive covenant deals with non-solicitation agreements. You may choose to utilize this type of agreement in hopes of avoiding having a former employee attempt to solicit customers, clients or other employees from your business to work for that individual's business. This agreement could help you keep your hard-earned customers' loyalty to your business, rather than them being persuaded to move to a new company.

Non-disclosure agreements

Because trade secrets are often an important part of companies, many owners tend to utilize non-disclosure agreements. These confidentiality contracts typically include terms that prohibit employees or other applicable parties from disclosing any information that may pertain to business operations, such as inventions or other advantageous information.

Enforceability

Laws regarding restrictive covenants in employment contracts can vary in different areas. Therefore, in order to ensure that your terms are enforceable, you may wish to find out more information on applicable Florida state laws. Additionally, the possibility exists that an employee could take issue with the terms of the agreement, and disputes could occur. In such cases, you may wish to gain the assistance of an attorney to address any business litigation.