The Glade 4.0

So, I have been really **** stressed lately. Some of you may remember when my company entered into bankruptcy proceedings. This is what caused Moose to be let go and stuff.

Well the added stress from school, getting essentially forced to pay 100% out of pocket to continue school, etc. has led to things going less than smooth in my home life. There have been frequent arguments with my SO, frequent arguments with my eldest, lack of mojo (austin powers-esque), occasional thoughts of "accidentally veering into oncoming traffic after removing my seatbelt, general thoughts and desires leading to other people suffering as I vented my frustrations...

Through all of this I really tried to retain some level of cautious optimism that I would be okay if I just persevered. But lingering deep down... I really did not think I would be okay.

Well as of this past Tuesday: April 26, 2011.... my company has finished with their bankruptcy. The company was auctioned. We were purchased by a company based out of Birmingham called Momentum Telecom. Luckily they were undamaged by the Tornado-fest that ran through there.

Today; we met with their CFO and their HR person, we were given a brief "Welcome to Momentum" speech, and told of what our benefits would be, were we to become employed by Momentum.

Some of us in the company were given transitional offers for the next 90 days. Some of us were given offers for full time positions. I was given an offer for a full time position.

I really did not begin to look at the benefits package until the past hour or so... The benefits are better than what I would have expected. They are much better than what I was receiving from the previous company.

roughly $0.45 an hour pay increase.
401k with 50% employer match, with Roth options.
Health, Vision and Dental (at a good price)
Life Insurance
short and long term disability
16 days of PTO (usable for vacation or sick time, this is currently 3 days more than I was previously getting.)
7 paid holidays
and if I choose to... free VoIP phone service.

But... if I choose to accept this employment... there is a rather hefty non-competition agreement I must sign and notarize. This rough idea of the agreement not only would bar me from VoIP but potentially from Telecom in general...

This does not worry me that much... but the other people in my department are freaking out about it.

And I have a potential offer letter coming in the mail for me... But I need to hope it arrives before I need to submit the Non Competition form.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Are non-competes legally enforceable in your state?

I've signed plenty in my life and I pointed out to my future employer that this is not legally binding in Pa - they seemed to already know.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

I'm going to assume that your personal morality would prevent you from breaking the non-compete contract, regardless of the legality.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

How hefty? What's the duration and radius? Is it null if you get axed?

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

the term is one year. It does not mention getting fired, merely "after leaving the company"

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

if they fire you, I'm virtually positive they cannot enforce a DNC clause.

honestly... I am really not sure I care about the Non compete...

I can accept the offer, have a job, and be happily and gainfully employed in a field I like... or; I can be unemployed. The first option sounds much better.

I actually enjoy working in Telecom. Especially since I am NOT in sales.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Yeah pretty much DS. Later will be worked out later.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Do Not Compete clauses can be strange. Get a legal opinion on it before you sign. If it would potentially prevent you from accepting employment in your chosen field for the full year of its duration, you'll need to think long and hard about what your options would be. I assume the clause is "Don't work as an X for any Y or pay Z amount penalty", that's actually not horrendous. It just requires you to make yourself attractive enough to a competitor that they'll foot the bill for the penalty. That's if your skills are specific enough to only be applicable to a competitor, of course. If you could conceivably work for an enterprise as a VoIP engineer, it's even less of a worry.

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This is where I want to be. I am honestly surprised by how much I enjoy working in this field.

Reading through the entire noncompete: it includes their termination of my employment, and if it is breeched... would continue to be extended on a day per day basis, and It includes a provision to reimburse their legal costs if they enforce.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

I'd get a lawyer's opinion on that, especially since it includes them terminating you. Still, in this day and age a good lob offer is nothing to sneeze at.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

yeah... i have a conference call on that tomorrow afternoon.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

So after all is said and done; things do not look so bad. The company that purchased us is really **** cool.

The director of operations and the VP of engineering have been here for about a week now, and they are good guys. They will sit and shoot the breeze with us, they take an active role in the day to day operations and in learning what we are doing.

They are getting brand new computers for several of us. And they are spending more on licensing on these brand new computers than the previous employer did in 4 years (licenses of hammer call analyzer to start).

They also have recognized that we are very understaffed, and want to bring in more people. I have submitted two potential resumes thus far. They have a good employee referral program. And they have talked to several of us and asked already where we would like to be within the organization.

I personally tried to keep it humble, but honest.

Overall, I am excited about choosing to hold out and try to stay optimistic.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

They're learning what you're doing so they can replace you. The new computers are for them.

J/k. Glad to hear it looks like it'll work out well for you.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I initially read this thread title as:



/boggle

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Sounds like you hit the jackpot! Congrats!

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Hokanu
Duty is a magnificent blessing because it is the sign of trust from the universe.
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