Modifying Employment Agreements?

An anonymous reader asks: "I am starting a new job, after months of unemployment. While out of work, I started a technology related business. I do not believe there is a conflict in the services provided by this business and the job I am taking. As has been standard with previous employers, I have been asked to sign an agreement that states in part that I am to disclose to the company anything that I create wether or not during company time, and wether or not it relates to the company. I also must agree that these same creations or inventions become the sole property of the company. I would like to change the wording to only include those creations, inventions and other Intellectual Property that is the direct result of work performed for the company, involved use of company property, and/or was created or invented during paid hours spent working for the company. What success or failure have other Slashdot readers had when dealing with wide reaching employment agreements such as this? How did you approach management with your modifications?"

What's the company name?

[EriDay]

Sounds like they're going to have an opening.

Anything you create?

[Boing]

You could just teach them the error of their over-litigious ways by giving them the "rights" to the next thing you "create" after some cheap mexican food and seven cups of coffee.

3 other words

[buus]

and a pony.... I want a pony as well. I think you are about as likely to get a pony as you are to get a change in the standard employment agreement.

Take a red pen *before* you sign anything.

[mindslip]

I've been faced with many a contract that has crap to the effect of "we own everything you do whether before, during, after us, for us, or unrelated to us", and "you will not work in any field competing with us for a period of..."

I usually start by saying "I've crossed out all the unethical crap that you'd never sign yourselves..."

mindslip

Re:What's the company name?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, the company name is SCO.
Still interested?

Re:I Just said No

[Shut the fuck up!]

When faced with the same situation about 5 years ago, I simply said "I'm not going to sign this".

1999 called. It said things were different then.

Re:3 other words

[monkeyfinger]

Tell the interviewer that you want a pony.
When he agrees to that say "No, I want you to be the pony".
(From Dilbert)

Re:3 words: HIRE A LAWYER.

[Sneftel]

Really? I once had this guy working for me who was such a friggin' tool, he went on this weeklong crusade to find a booklet of rules to follow. Luckily, he left on his own, so I didn't have to can his ass.

Re:3 words: HIRE A LAWYER.

[nolife]

In your off time, create a bunch of viruses. If you get caught, you can tell them the real legal owner is your company and you created them under contract for your company. You'll see how quick that section of the contract is suddenly determined to mean something else. Same holds true for the services like Yahoo, MSN, Geocities etc.. that claim (or used to claim) to own all posts, pictures, and material you put on their servers and forums.

A contract is a TWO WAY agreement. This company must accept the good with the bad unless otherwise noted in the contrct.

Re:Anything you create?

[Waffle Iron]

Most companies expect to receive these creations. In fact, the practice is so common that you usually see elaborate fixtures for collecting them in every office. Every employer I've had has accepted these submissions, but I honestly don't know what they do with them after they've been dropped off in the fixtures. I suspect that they really don't want to deal with this stuff and it just gets shipped offsite somewhere.

True Story about Dave Cutler

[Ann Elk]

I heard the following story during my time in Microsoft's Windows NT group.

Dave Cutler (chief architect of Windows NT and well known has having a rather "abrasive" personality) had to attend an employee orientation meeting, just like every other grunt in the company. A big part of the meeting is the signing of Many Confusing Contracts, especially the one saying "everything you create during your employment belongs to Microsoft".

Dave refused to sign it. The HR dweeb running the meeting told Dave "You don't understand. If you don't sign this, I can't hire you."

Dave replied "No, you don't understand. You didn't hire me!"

In the end, Dave didn't sign the document.

Re:Good luck

[gnu-generation-one]

"Imagine your boss having to choose between hiring you and someone else who may only be slightly less qualified."

In their dreams...

OUTSOURCE a lawyer?

[StandardCell]

American AC in Paris had a great quote below -- "Assume that you're just as good at revising some lawyer's contract as you'd expect that lawyer to be at revising your code. Act accordingly."

Does that mean I get to outsource the lawyer's job to India at a tenth of the salary of a lawyer here? At $20/hour vs. $200/hour, that turns out to be pretty cheap.

Hot damn...where do I find one of these guys?

Steve's View

[mitheral]

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we' ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'"
--Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.