IT giant Infosys is having all its employees sign a non-compete clause which states that even after the employee quits the company, he/ she cannot work for any of Infosys' competitors. In fact, the clause allegedly lists by name the top five rival companies -- Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture, IBM Global Services, Cognizant and Wipro.
It also disallows employees from taking up job offers presented them by the organisation's customers for upto six months after quitting, if the employee in question has worked on that particular customer's assignments in the previous one year.
Infosys has justified this clause, saying it is a common practice for companies to safeguard their interests and bind their employees to them. Although such a contract's legal standing is disputed, many employees simply prefer to pay up the penalty when breaching it, rather than face a powerful company's legal team in court.
We're asking you -- do you think such a move on the part of large organisations is justified? Given that hundreds of employees join and leave annually, is it right for big companies to try and bind them by contract? Or is it grossly unfair that an employee has to pay a large sum when deflecting to the employer's competitors?
What is your take on the subject? We want to know, so come share your opinions and experiences with us.
