"No Hire" Policy ?

[Kunal Mishra]

Hi,

Can someone please explain me what is "No Hire" policy between company A and company B ?
Suppose I'm in company A and want to join company B but there is "No Hire" clause in between them, will there be any specific period that I need to spend in some other company C ? if yes, how much max. ?

Thanks,
Kunal

[Mark Herschberg]

I haven't heard of such a thing before, but presumably the amount of time of need to spend in company C would be specified by the contract between the two companies and subject to wthe laws of whatever states companies A & B use for jurisdiction.

--Mark

[Andrew Monkhouse]

I haven't heard of a "you may not work for company B" type clause before.

However I have heard of "you may not work for a competitor" type clause. Depending on where you live such a clause may not be legal if it actually restricts your ability to earn a living.

If working for company B is something you would like to do, and they would like you to work for them, then you might want to see if you can tell them about the clause - they usually have legal experts who can tell you whether the clause applies, and whether it is legal, and what you need to do (if anything).

Regards, Andrew

[Mark Herschberg]

The interesting part here is that the contract is between the companies, not the individual and company. I wonder if it falls under the same protections as clauses which prevent you from earning a living.

But Andrew's right, you should check with a lawyer.

--Mark

[Pawan Rao]

Yes, I too faced the same when I wanted to move from Company A to Company B. They call it anti-poaching. It is an agreement between 2 companies which says that Company A (or B) can not hire/interview an employee of Company B (or A) until and unless he/she has already resigned from Company B and is serving the notice period.

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

There are many companies in India which works on BOT , that is build operate and transfer.It will help an MNC to operate within itself and when the complete development and testing team is up and working to a mature level , it will transfer the ownership of this to the main company and the company can carry from there independently.

Suppose a company A in India works in this way and company B is an MNC tied with A in BOT agreement.After B wing of company matures enough B separates out of A and starts working independently.
During the time of transfer the employees of B have to sign an agreement that it cannot go back to A without serving in company B for at least a year or so.

[stephen gates]

I've seen many of these things while a contractor and consultant. I work for ABC Company on a contract as a consultant for XYZ Company. The "No Hire" policy is formed so I can't get hired on by XYZ company i'm consulting at. It protects ABC Company because they are making money for having me consult at XYZ Company. If I prematurely end my contract and jump on as a FT or contractor for XYZ company, they lose money. It's really simple. While it might not always be fair, it really protects the Consulting companies.

If XYZ Company is paying 12K per month to have me on board while I'm only being paid 8K per month, they could cut out the Consulting firm and offer me 8K per month. I make the same amount, probably get better benefits, and save the company 4K per month for the same work. It sounds logical but the Consulting company needed a way to protect themselves from this happening. So the whole "No Hire" policy went into effect. While this might not be the case all the time, it happens often enough.

[Mark Herschberg]

No hire from consulting firms is standard practice throughout the US for the reasons you mentioned. It is less common when no such consulting agreement is in place between the two. Even when the agreement holds, it typically only holds for consultants from ABC who have set foot within XYZ.

Kunal's example sounds different (unless he left this part out).

--Mark