Non-Competition Agreements for Technical Writers - ethical issues

[Svi Ben-Elya]

1. Thank for your response. 

2. Regarding your question about what the market for technical writers is
like in Israel:
Right now there is a shortage of experienced tech writers. Israel is a small
country with a lot of R&D centers, so even a small tech writing firm is very
likely to do at least some work with many of the potential clients/employers
of tech writers. There is a strong financial incentive for writers to make
the move from subcontractor to independent or find a good inhouse position.
There is also an incentive for clients who are happy with a writer supplied
by an outsource company to hire or work directly with that writer. 

This incentive became especially strong at the end of the recession when
writers who subcontracted during the recession began finding their own
direct clients or in house positions that paid far more than they would
receive from a returning client (even if the returning client was paying a
much higher rate). The client couldn't get the writer through the outsource
company and couldn't work with him/her directly. The outsource company
couldn't get the writer at rates that were significantly lower than what
that writer was now getting elsewhere. 


-----Original Message-----
From: Ned Bedinger [mailto:doc at edwordsmith.com] 
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 8:37 AM
To: svi at ieee.org
Cc: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Non-Competition Agreements for Technical Writers - ethical
issues

This is what I do: Before signing, I draw a line through and revise any
non-competitive clause that restricts me for more than 3 months. If I get a
concerned response to that , then we have to discuss it until they have
satisfied me or vice versa. It nearly always comes down to 3 months. If I
were taking work on a very short time basis, I would try to do away with the
non-compete clause altogether.

The non-compete clause, it seems to me, belongs only where the local market
can't find enough tech writers. What is the market for technical writers
like in Israel?

Ned Bedinger
doc at edwordsmith.com



-Svi Ben-Elya wrote:
> There is an interesting discussion in Israel on the Non-Competition 
> Agreements or clauses that tech writers are asked to sign by 
> outsourcing companies. The discussion began on Techshoret (the Israeli 
> equivalent of
> Techwr-l) by a new immigrant tech writer concerned about signing an 
> agreement that would potentially prevent her from continuing to work 
> as a tech writer in Israel if and when she left the outsourcer. The 
> issues are both legal (is it enforcable) and ethical.
>  
> The discussion is now continuing on www.elephant.org.il with different 
> pages for comments on different ethical questions. If there is some 
> type of consensus or local industry standard for these agreements that 
> comes out of the discussion, I will be more than happy to summarize. I 
> would like to get input from all of you because even though the legal 
> aspects may be relevant only to Israel, the ethical ones are similar
elsewhere.
>  
> Thank you in advance.
>  
> - Svi Ben-Elya -
> svi at ieee.org
> 054-2356235
> www.elephant.org.il <http://www.elephant.org.il/>
>  
>