Most companies will require you to sign various agreements before you start work. Before you blindly scribble your John Hancock on anything put in front of you, you should take a moment to see what you’re signing and what rights you’re giving up. And don’t forget, INAL – so this advice is worth precisely what you are paying for it.
Non-compete clauses are a silly business, especially since they’re generally not enforceable -- at least in California. Generally they are only meant to scare employees away from running into the arms of a competitor. Still, if non-competes concern you, you should ask at the time of the offer whether you’ll have to sign any such forms to work there.
Intellectual Property Protection is where you promise you will not take IP from the company when you leave. The IP can include source code, designs, specifications, and any other documents that may reveal the company’s secrets. This should be reasonable enough; the general understanding between companies is that departing employees can walk out the door with only what’s in their heads.
The Company will also likely want ownership of all your work while you are employed. Beware this can also include your side projects if they are relevant to your company’s field. So for instance if you work for a pest control firm and you design a better mousetrap on your own time, hoping to strike it out on your own and make it big – well, that design may actually belong to the company.
Many companies also forbid working on other for-profit ventures while you are employed with them. This may include consulting gigs on the side, running a micro-ISV (Independent Software Vendor), or serving on boards of directors. However, most will accommodate you and grandfather in any side ventures you already had before joining the company.
Finally, while this is not specifically a document to sign, some companies will ask you to submit to a drug test. This is a sensitive topic, and one that some people have strong feelings about. Personally I’ve worked at a couple of such companies and done drug tests for both of them, so my view should be clear: I wouldn’t let a drug test keep me from taking a job with an otherwise great company. Others may disagree, and I respect their views. But this being a free country, companies are free to test for illegal substances, just as candidates are free to walk away from nosy companies.
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