Despite flack from broadcast owners.

Oregon Media Insiders reports:
The key provisions of the final bill include:

Those employees, primarily hourly and nonsupervisory - currently considered “non-exempt” employees under ORS 653.020 - cannot be subject to non-competition agreements.

Employees must be informed about a noncompetition agreement in a written employment agreement at least two weeks before the first day of work;

A noncompetition agreement is not enforceable unless the employer has a "protectable" interest (defined in the bill), including access to trade secrets, product development plans, product launch plans, marketing strategy; sales plans; or an employer of on-air talent has expended resources equal to or exceeding 10 percent of that employee’s annual salary to develop, improve, train or publicly promote the employee.

A noncompetition agreement cannot be enforced against an employee whose
total gross salary is less than that of the median income of a family of four in Oregon (currently approximately $61,000 a year);

A noncompetition agreement cannot last longer than two years;

An employer CAN enforce a noncompetition agreement if the employer is willing to pay the employee at least 50% of the employee’s base salary for the length of the agreement or 50% of the median income figure for a family of 4 in Oregon (currently about $61,000 a year).

The final amendments to the bill require broadcasting companies to pay on-air talent either 50% of their salary or half the median income figure (see above) for the length of a noncompetition agreement in order to enforce it.

The bill’s requirements do not apply to agreements prohibiting a former employee from revealing or contacting customers of their previous employer.

"or an employer of on-air talent has expended resources equal to or exceeding 10 percent of that employee’s annual salary to develop, improve, train or publicly promote the employee. "

Easy out. This sum can very easily be reached with moderate training / mentoring activities. Promotion is a really easy out.

Nice development otherwise however.

On a related topic, an employer rule I've heard about and never liked is that some employers specify that they own the rights to any invention an employee comes up with as a result of working for the company. Wow! Talk about stifling the American dream! I wish I could cite a source for this, but it's a rumor I've heard.

It does not stifle the American Dream. If an employer pays you to work for them and you develop/invent something while working on the clock for them then they should own whatever it is you did. What you do on your own time is yours. The companies I worked for own the rights but your name is still on the list as the patent owner/founder. Depending on what it is, they may turn over the rights to you.

If you want to invent something, nothing is stopping you from doing that.

This is completely true.

If you are somebody, who likes to tinker, build, etc... reading your employment contract over is a really great idea.

The intent behind these is to do exactly what Jimbo just said. The actual effect most of the language has is far greater in a lot of cases.

Many non-disclosure contracts have similar language. It's worth a read too.

I've had to cross out phrases multiple times that:

-claimed ownership of any and all inventions period

[not good, my time is mine]

-did not clarify what is in the employers interests

[they have a line of business, that should be differentiated from employee activities]

-did not include a sunset clause.

This is no big deal however. Just read the thing, consult an attorney for an hour or so, if you must. Then make the changes necessary to keep your interests yours, discuss those that may or may not overlap, then get it signed by both parties and keep a copy.

I've not ran into any company, save one greedy little family owned one, that had any problem with this process at all. Setting expectations and boundaries is actually something required of their employees, therefore doing this is not only expected, but required for a solid relationship.

Setting the greedy one aside, the worst I've had to do is explain this and emphasize I'm just an active person and want to do the right thing for both parties best interests.

No biggie, unless you just sign. In that case, you deserve exactly what you get.

"save one greedy little family owned one,"

Did they own a Stair Car?

Non-compete contracts have been a wicked tool created by the "suits" and slime ball lawyers and used by employers to basically deny people the right to work at their own profession. For example, in one small market, where radio jobs are scarce, a radio station owner tried to get employees to sign a non-compete (which,by the way, all air talent refused) which would essentially have made it impossible to work at a radio job without having to sell their homes, pack up and move their families out of market. Making non-compete agreements un-enforceable may give employers some incentive to think about the way they treat their employees.

never signed one.... last place wanted one, I turned it in unsigned with the rest of the paper work... 6 months later it is back in my inbox with a note to please sign and return. I put it back in my file in the office unsigned. never heard another word about it.

The only condition I could think of to sign one was if the company, upon termination, agreed to pay full salary for the period that it was in force. now if you quit, then maybe a max of 90 days, but it still reeks of preventing one from staying in market in a similar job classification.

A smart salesman is going to take their client list with them anyway, but for an air talent, it shouldn't be an issue for what company you crack the mic.......

If you work for mega radio and crosstown jumbo broadcasting offers a better package... Well, hey, it's all about the money isn't it? Certainly corporate greed should understand that.

What about mobile DJ's who work for a company?I have been told that the larger companies in town have required their DJ's to sign them.Including our own Chris Taylor.So does that make them all free agents?

IIRC, this came because the low-wage outsourced call center in Beaverton that shut down earlier this year (April/May?) left their employees unpaid (final paychecks refused by ex-employer's bank) and their non-competes were still enforceable, leaving some of them to wonder if/how they would be able to find another job.

no competes are garbage. i had one in 1985 and it didnt stop me.