Condo Media - November 2018 - 36

PREVENT DEFENSE

HERE TO STAY

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH NONCOMPETE AGREEMENTS

company for all expenses relating to training and
certification fees if the employee leaves voluntarily in a specified period of time.
If you're concerned about clients hiring managers who leave: Include a provision in the management contract prohibiting an association from hiring a company's employee for a specified period
and impose a monetary penalty for violations of
this clause. You may not want to enforce this provision-it's not exactly client-friendly-but it may
make boards considering hiring your departing
manager think twice about it.
Whether you are using noncompete agreements
or not, industry consultant Julie Adamen advises
FOR MANAGEMENT COMPANIES
to never stop looking for qualified managers. She
USING NONCOMPETES
also emphasizes the need for company executives
If you are going to use a noncompetition agreeto create and sustain relationships with their asment, tailor it as narrowly as possible. This will
sociation clients, beyond the relationship with the
make it less onerous for employees, more acceptmanager assigned to their property. "You want to
able to them, and easier to defend if the agreemake sure the manager's face isn't the only one
ment is challenged.
board members see," she says.
"This is a relationship business,"
the current market, with the demand for qualified she adds. And boards turn over
frequently. "The board members
association managers far exceeding the supply,
who selected the company may
no longer be there, so you have
managers who don't want to sign a noncompete to establish a relationship with the
new board."
Management companies should
agreement can almost certainly find a position
rethink the traditional structure
makes the manager the sole
with another company that doesn't require it. that
contact for an association, she
suggests. A team approach that
allows board members to interact directly with
Make sure your agreement complies with apother management company employees, and that
plicable state laws. (See sidebar on the new Masallows managers to get to know properties other
sachusetts law on page 34.)
than their own, works better for all, she believes.
Consider whether less restrictive alternatives,
Paul Okonak, MBA, CMCA, AMS, president of
such as nonsolicitation agreements, will achieve
the Evergreen Harvard Group, AAMC, an Associa
your goals.
Company, agrees. "The team approach allows us to
If you're concerned about money spent training
managers: Include in your employment agreement move managers in and out of different properties,
if we have to," he says. If a manager leaves for
a provision requiring employees to reimburse the
he debate over noncompetition agreements (see feature article on page
28) will no doubt continue to enliven
conversations among condominium
executives for a long time. But whether
they embrace noncompetes or loathe
them, industry professionals agree noncompetes aren't a passing fad. They
have become an industry fixture and
managers, management companies, and associations will have to learn how to deal with them. The
sources we interviewed had some suggestions.

CONDOMEDIA November 2018

Condo Media - November 2018

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