On entrenched employees, exasperated employers, and restricting re-employment: part 6 (extra bonus!).

So I thought I was REALLY done with this series¹ on non-compete clauses.

But then I was invited to contribute an op-ed to the The Straits Times - right in time for Labour Day.

And I thought it would be a good opportunity to:

1️⃣ approach the issue from a more nuanced angle: while the prevailing narrative appears to be “non-competes evil grr”, I saw value in exploring how employers can utilise non-competes in a way that strikes a better balance between employers and employees’ interests;

2️⃣ share a more balanced view, as a conflicts-free disputes lawyer who regularly acts for both employers and employees² (and who is therefore less interested in taking, by default, the side of either big corporations or the person on the street)³; and

3️⃣ author a different kind of piece.⁴

Many thanks to Suling Lin, Audrey Quek, Mubin Saadat, Rahul Pathak, and Linda Collins for the hard work behind the scenes, and to Ju Er Wong for the incisive comments. All errors remain mine, and if you disagree with the views expressed, come at me bro.⁵