Tag: employee poaching

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Stealing Employees from a Nursing Practice in California

A nursing practice is about its people. It is the type of business that requires skilled, experienced nurses on staff to operate competitively. A great nurse is one that has had a lot of training—and many businesses make big investments into their nurses. This raises an important question: Is it legal to take the nurses from a competing business? The answer is generally “yes”—California law provides limited protections. Here, our Fremont business lawyer highlights the key things to know about our state’s regulations regarding stealing employees from a nursing practice.

California Law Largely Does Not Prohibit “Stealing” of Employees from Nursing Practices

California is an at-will employment state that, for the most part, protects an employee’s ability to move from one job to another. Indeed, there is strong public policy in favor of employee mobility and competition and the medical field, including nursing, is no exception. Indeed, non-compete agreements are largely unenforceable in our state. Further, there is no law that stops the stealing of employees from another medical practice in California.

The exception (workplace raids): There is an exception in California for so-called “workplace raids.” If a competitor engages in unfair practices—such as intentionally targeting another business’s employees with the intent to disrupt or interfere with that business—it may be unlawful. It could give rise to a claim under California Business and Professions Code § 17200.

Nursing Practices Have a General Right to Recruit from Competing Businesses

Like other businesses, nursing practices have a general right to compete in the marketplace. Among other things, this means that they have the right to recruit or “steal” employees from competing firms by offering them better opportunities. It could be higher pay, better benefits, or more favorable working conditions. As long as the recruitment is done without violating the law it is legally permissible in California.

How Nursing Practices Can Protect their Investment in Human Capital

Although a nursing practice cannot stop a competing business from trying to recruit their employees, there are steps that employers in the health care industry in California can take to protect their investment in human capital. Options include:

Employment contracts: To protect their investment in human capital, nursing practices can use employment contracts. A California employment lawyer can help you structure nursing contracts in a manner that helps prevent workers from leaving to take an offer at a competing business.
Non-solicitation agreements: While non-compete clauses are unenforceable in California, non-solicitation agreements that prevent former employees from soliciting the company’s clients or employees may be enforceable if they are reasonable in scope
Trade secret protections: Nursing practices should also safeguard their trade secrets and confidential information. Under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, businesses can take legal action against anyone who misappropriated their trade secrets.

Contact Our California Business Lawyer for Nursing Practice Today

Lynnette Ariathurai is a California business attorney with the skills and experience to represent nursing practices. If you have any questions about nursing practice employee stealing/poaching, please do not hesitate to contact us today for a confidential initial consultation. With a law office in Fremont, we represent nursing practices throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including San Jose, San Mateo, Hayward, and Newark.

California workplace raid law, employee poaching, employee stealing

Understand the Regulations Surrounding Employee Recruitment and Hiring in California

Businesses and organizations make major investments into finding, recruiting, hiring, and training employees. If a direct competitor tries to swoop in and take all your qualified staff, it could cause serious harm to your business. California law provides some limited legal protection in this scenario—but employee poaching is technically not a prohibited practice. In this article, our Fremont business law attorney provides an overview of the key things companies should know about the regulations surrounding employee recruitment and hiring in California.

Know the Law: California is an At-Will Employment State—But Workplace Raids are Banned

Businesses in California are right to be worried about protecting their human capital. Companies make tremendous investments into training employees. A competitor may try to come in and take your qualified staff. At the same time, California is an “at-will” employment state. Employees can leave a company for any reason. The law does not stop them from joining a competitor.

In fact, California allows businesses to recruit directly from competitors. State law does not specifically ban the practice of employee poaching—whereby businesses actively seek out and hire workers from their competitors. As frustrating as it can be to deal with a competitor that is recruiting your employees, it is not an unlawful practice.

With that being said, there is an important limit: California does bar workforce raids. That is viewed as an anti-competitive, monopolistic practice. A competitor that attempts to raid your staff—meaning they aggressively try to hire many (or all) of your employees at once—may be in violation of state law. A workforce “raid” is distinct from lawful hiring recruitment.

The Best Legal Strategy to Protect Against Employee Poaching: Employment Agreements

Employers are not entirely helpless against the forceful recruiting of their staff. One of the best approaches to safeguard against employee poaching is to use well-written employment agreements. These contracts should clearly outline the terms of employment—including job responsibilities, salary, benefits, and duration. A contract may be structured so that an employee is strongly (financially) disincentivized from joining a competitor for a predetermined time.

In California, businesses should avoid including non-compete provisions within an employment agreement. Non-competes are not enforceable in California. Indeed, in September of 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 699 into law—legislation that further expands the state’s ban on non-compete agreements. In other words, an employment agreement cannot directly bar an employee from joining a competing firm in the future.

The bottom line on understanding the regulations surrounding employee recruitment and hiring in California: the state allows competing businesses to recruit directly from each other’s staff—as long as they avoid anti-competitive mass “raids.” Companies can use employment agreements to help retain their staff.

Get Help from Our Fremont, CA Business Law Attorney Today

Lynnette Ariathurai is a business lawyer with considerable experience helping companies navigate California’s employment, recruitment, and employee poaching laws. If you have questions about your rights, your options, or protecting your employees, please do not hesitate to contact us today. With an office in Fremont, we work with businesses throughout the Bay Area.

California employment laws, employee poaching, employment agreements, workforce raids

Stealing Employees from a Medical Practice in California (Know the Law)

Medicine is a highly competitive field in the Bay Area. The Medical Board of California reports that there are nearly 170,000 licensed doctors in the state. There are many thousands of professional practices. This raises an important question: Can medical practices in California protect their competitors from stealing employees? The short answer is that our state has very limited regulations to protect business, but medical practices have some options for keeping staff. Here, our Fremont business lawyer for medical practices highlights the key things you should know about the laws around stealing employees from a competing business in California.

What Medical Practices Should Know About California Law on Stealing Employees

The most important piece of background information for medical practices to understand is that California is an at-will employment state. Either the employer or the employee can end their working relationship at any time for almost any reason, except for an illegal reason. Further, there is no employee poaching statute in California. Quite the contrary, a medical practice can lawfully recruit and hire the employees of a direct competitor.

That being said, there are limits. Most notably, the law strictly prohibits large-scale workplace raids of a competing business. It is a violation that occurs when a business—including a medical practice—intentionally targets another business and tries to hire away a significant number of its staff all at once to undermine that competing firm.

Medical Practices Can Use Employment Contracts to Protect Staff

While the law does not prohibit general employee “stealing” by competing business, there are proactive steps that medical practices in California can take to protect the investment that they made in finding, building, and training their staff. The best option is generally a well-drafted employment agreement. These contracts outline the terms and conditions of an employee’s relationship with the medical practice. While non-compete agreements are not valid in California, an employment agreement could help to keep your staff in place. It may require advance notice and/or the repayment of certain bonuses if your employee leaves the practice before the end of their agreement.

A Medical Practice in California May Protect Proprietary Business Information with an NDA

Although California medical practices ultimately have somewhat limited options for stopping an employee from joining a competitor, they have far stronger options for protecting their sensitive business information. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) can provide much needed protection if an employee had access to proprietary information about your medical practice. An NDA is a legal document that requires employees to keep certain information confidential for a predetermined period.

Contact Our California Business Lawyer for Medical Practices Today

Lynnette Ariathurai is a top-tier business attorney with extensive experience working with medical practices. If you have any questions about California law regarding the stealing of employees from a competing medical practice, we are here to help. Contact us today for a completely confidential initial case review. From our Fremont office, our firm serves clients throughout the Bay Area.

California employment laws, employee poaching, employee stealing, employment agreements, workforce raids