# can an employer stop you from shopping at a competitor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802 "2016-10-17T01:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/41 "2016-10-19T04:38:24Z")
Several states have laws that prohibit employers from barring employees from doing legal activities on their own time. Many of these laws were written to stop employers from prohibiting employees from smoking while off the clock, but the laws are generally written to include any lawful activity. There usually are exceptions. With that said, in most states an employer can fire you at will just because they don’t like you any more. So there is always a way around those laws. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/42 "2016-10-19T08:53:22Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > \*\*The fact that something is in an ‘employment agreement’ doesn’t mean that it’s actually a contract, \*\*and people often call things ‘employment agreement’ that the company might not name that. Employment contracts are actually pretty uncommon in the US, though a lot of people think there’s a contract when there isn’t. Bolding mine 😕 Ok, now you’ve lost me. As I’ve pointed out previously, I’m not a US attorney but basic principles and concepts -such as definition of “contract” tend to be pretty similar. My understanding of contract is of an agreement between two parties creating enforceable legal rights and obligations. This would certainly be applicable to any employer/employee relationship, whether there is an “agreement” or “contract” or nothing at all. What is distinction between “employee agreement” and “contract”? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/43 "2016-10-19T13:56:23Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > My understanding of contract is of an agreement between two parties creating enforceable legal rights and obligations. This would certainly be applicable to any employer/employee relationship, whether there is an “agreement” or “contract” or nothing at all. No, a lot (probably most) employer/employee relationships in the US don’t actually involve an employment contract. An employment contract is a specific type of contract laying out the terms of employment for a person, that lays out the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of the employer and employee. Typical retail, restaurant, and office jobs simply do not have such an agreement in the US, though union jobs and a lot of high-level positions typically do. My understanding is that this is not the way things go in Commonwealth countries, that normally any job has an actual employment contract in those places. People in the US tend to massively overestimate how much formal process and worker protection exist in their jobs. > [@](#): > > What is distinction between “employee agreement” and “contract”? An ‘employee agreement’ is a broad, ill-defined term that might mean an actual contract or might mean something a boss said or might be a piece of paper that’s not a contract or might be something a random person wrote hoping to make a contract but is actually flawed so isn’t a legal contract or might be the way someone refers to the company’s employee handbook. It can also include things like non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, which are contracts but not employment contracts. The distinction is important in this situation because the scenario you outlined, the company making a contract that says ‘you won’t send your kids to a competitor’s daycare’ and then trying to sue the other parent for violating it (‘get traction in a court of law’), just isn’t what would actually happen. If you interpret the OP pedantically then the simple answer is ‘no’, but generally when people ask ‘can an employer stop you from…’ or ‘forbid you from…’ they mean ‘can they fire you for…’, to which the answer is ‘yes’ in the US under most circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/44 "2016-10-19T15:08:18Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > No, a lot (probably most) employer/employee relationships in the US don’t actually involve an employment contract. An employment contract is a specific type of contract laying out the terms of employment for a person, that lays out the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of the employer and employee. Typical retail, restaurant, and office jobs simply do not have such an agreement in the US, though union jobs and a lot of high-level positions typically do. My understanding is that this is not the way things go in Commonwealth countries, that normally any job has an actual employment contract in those places. It still looks like there is a contract in play, just not a formal written one. The agreement to provide labour against a wage is a contract, whether written or not. A brief perusal of US contract law doesn’t suggest otherwise. > [@](#): > > The distinction is important in this situation because the scenario you outlined, the company making a contract that says ‘you won’t send your kids to a competitor’s daycare’ and then trying to sue the other parent for violating it (‘get traction in a court of law’), just isn’t what would actually happen. If you interpret the OP pedantically then the simple answer is ‘no’, but generally when people ask ‘can an employer stop you from…’ or ‘forbid you from…’ they mean ‘can they fire you for…’, to which the answer is ‘yes’ in the US under most circumstances. I was thinking more along the lines of the employer citing the clause as a defence rather than as a cause of action, but yeah, I am aware that with a few exceptions, you can be dismissed for any reason. In the OP’s scenario I doubt that would ever be the stated reason in a town that small - you can just imagine the gossip. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/45 "2016-10-19T16:09:31Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > When I was at GM the mantra was, “drive what you build,” and there are good reasons for it. The linked article also has good reasons for driving competitor vehicles, too. However at GM no one ever told me that I wasn’t allowed to drive my competitor vehicle. The old Lansing Craft Center parking had non-GM restrictions, but the adjacent Fisher body did not (nor did any other facility that I visited). > > Here in Dearborn the only restriction is the hourly lot at the Rouge, which is heavily-UAW-dominant. If you have a drive-in badge, you can drive and park anything (and only salaried tend to get drive in access). The takeaway is this restriction only applies to hourly employees or to visitors who choose not to use one of the visitor lots. I think the hourly and visitor lots at NMPDC are as well. I can’t recall if Michigan Assembly does this, but I know KCAP does and I think Oakville as well. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802/46 "2016-10-19T16:22:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I think the hourly and visitor lots at NMPDC are as well. I can’t recall if Michigan Assembly does this, but I know KCAP does and I think Oakville as well. I wonder how they handle Mazda, JLR, and Volvo? By model year? I’m guessing Aston Martin doesn’t come up much for questioning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-employer-stop-you-from-shopping-at-a-competitor/768802.md?page=2)