eSignature Lawfulness for Independent Contractor Agreement in Canada

How to eSign a document: eSignature lawfulness for Independent Contractor Agreement in Canada

hello everybody uh my name is alan crone and uh welcome to our next installment in our legal bulletin series of ask allen uh answering questions uh from you about uh certain legal issues uh today's question is do non-compete agreements apply to independent contractors absolutely they apply to independent contractors just as well as they apply to employees i've seen i've seen agreements between businesses that come together for a joint venture that have elements of non-compete agreements these agreements are restrictive agreements that restrict one party's ability to use information or business resources they obtain from another business during the course of a relationship that can be an employee employer relationship which is frequently what you see it certainly can be independent contractors that probably is as important if not more important than employees it can be a little ticklish depending upon what business the independent contractor is in and how it relates to the enforcing company's business that independent contractor may be reluctant to sign an agreement that restricts their ability to do business in a certain industry or product area or with certain customers because they may be looking to the next deal and don't want to restrict themselves so those have to be those have to be negotiated if you're an independent contractor and you're concerned about it don't just say well uh i hear non-competes are not enforceable uh so i'm just i'm gonna sign it not worry about it uh these things can frequently be negotiated uh but i but i am here to say that uh they can cause a lot of problems if you aren't realistic about them going in on the front end um in order to be enforceable they need to be narrowly tailored and they need to be specific to a particular situation and if you're signing them you need to make sure that you go into that with your eyes wide open because you can be presented with a cease and desist letter or lawsuit after the fact that can cost a lot of time and money to to resolve so do non-compete agreements apply to independent contractors yes they they absolutely do i would encourage you if you're drafting them to consult with an attorney as you as you do that and if you're presented with one it probably is a good investment to go see a lawyer pay her consult fee to talk about the non-compete and what it may or may not mean both before during and after the engagement my name is alan crone i hope you've enjoyed uh this bulletin if you have uh please share it on social media uh email it to friends and colleagues uh thank you for watching and i'm gonna go get some justice you