Noncompete/Recipe Confidentiality

[FlourPower]

I realize that there's "nothing new under the sun" so to speak, and there are only so many ways to make a chocolate cake, but do any of you have employees sign a noncompete type of contract when they start work?

[CanadianBakin']

I don't know specifics but the owners of the coffee shop I will be contracting to are having all employees sign a contract that says they aren't able to share anything they learned at the shop until 2 years after they leave employment. This includes recipes for baking and making specialty coffees.

[artisanbaker]

yes but in many cases it can not hold up in court due to the fact that an experienced baker "already had the skills/recipes" before joining the team.

the only way to protect oneself is by hiring "green" employees.

in the end i think it's more effective as a scare tactic than actuel legal protection.

[Wendy DeBord]

I have to admit on an emotional level I can see the reasons and desire to implement such a contract. I recall feeling ripped off by employees that used "our recipes" and later even opened a bakery using all the same items, recipes even contacts. But I gotta say I've gotten over that completely.

I have recipes from others that I've worked for.........theres only 2 or 3 that are really decent. No one can clone me. No one can bake exactly as I do with my recipes. I try to keep myself growing enough that what I did today is less then what I'll do tommarrow. So someone can make a couple of my items or yours.... The ability to finance, open and run a successful business over a long course of time is so difficult that I actually have to wish that former employee great luck.........

Businesses spy on other businesses. Salesmen leak info., freinds of freinds pass on info. they shouldn't. Employees cross over from one employeer to the next and take with them your wholesale price list and the names and numbers of who your selling to, etc...

I really do think in the long run theres little to fear. Be above the worry. You can't really control someone thats capable, all you can do is be the best that YOU can be. You can't really own a whole market.

[Just loafing]

Just as a tidbit of information of probably little use to most, the legal term for the situation under discussion is breach of fiduciary duty and long, expensive, and often tedious, lawsuits have been fought in its name, not usually to do with recipes, however. Susan

[Kapuliperson]

most of the restaurants/delis i've worked for made me sign..

[Suzanne F]

For small businesses, a noncompete clause is probably a good thing. Especially if the market is small, too. While I agree with Wendy that it shouldn't be viewed as an emotional thing, it still seems wrong to me for someone to be hired, learn the recipes, and then go off and open on their own in order to take away your business.

Nondisclosures are a different matter. The manufacturers for whom I've worked (staff or consulting) made me sign nondisclosure agreements. I had no problem with that (even though I developed some of the recipes for them). But let's be real: a pastry recipe is not going to make anybody millions (except maybe Debbie Field), so why even bother asking?

Restaurants never asked me to do sign nondisclosures. And I've got virtually all the recipes from kitchens where I worked for extended periods. So what? Wendy is 100% right here: The recipes will never be exactly the same -- ingredients and kitchen conditions will always be at least a little different. And I have seen the exact same (fairly uncommon) items on menus of other restaurants; I suspect that both places "stole" them from the same chef, and that chef was confident enough that it wouldn't hurt anyone.

[nightscotsman]

I was not asked to sign any kind of non-disclosure agreement when I started at Bellagio. In fact, they insist that you make your own copies of the recipes we work with so the production book stays clean and organized. I don't think they see the stuff they do as reproducable by any of their direct competitors without a huge investment in staff, equipment and ingredients, so they aren't worried about the recipes getting out there.

Although they've said nothing to us about not divulging techniques or recipes, I personally wouldn't feel right about posting them publicly. Will I use the recipes if and when I move on to another job? Well... yes, probably some of them. I guess I think of them as part of the skill set that I've learned through experience and hard work.

A similar issue came up many times in my old career as graphic designer. When a designer moves to a new firm, they of course have a portfolio full of pieces they did at their old job. Is it OK for their new bosses to show that work as part of the firm's portfolio since the designer that produced them now works for them? Or is the work a product of the the former firm's group effort that the designer was only a part of. Most firms will show the work if the designer did at least the majority of work on the piece, though I have had some question the ethics of the practice.

[irodguy]

It's very hard to enforce a NDA for anything cooking related. It's hard to prove that you copied somebody else's recipe.

Depending on state it is almost impossible to enforce a "non funded non-compete" It depends if you live and work in a right to work state or not. We attempted to enforce one of these agreements a couple of years ago and were shot down in flames. The only real non competes can be enforced are those with a substantial amount of money involved such as a company buyout.

[bripastryguy]

Right before i parted from BR Guest I was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement and at that time I wasnt all for it, they were somewhat my recipes and I worked hard to perfect them, but now as an owner of a small and rapidly growing business I feel the importance of trying to keep me unique (for the most part, no one has re-invented the wheel) I was truly considering inforcing the use of a CA for all new employees