Hi, Perhaps I painted too 'dark' a picture in my comment, Saxena, and I think Gavindon and Dan Neely both made good points that can clarify my response. There is a great difference between your general programming skills, and in-depth knowledge of computer languages, OS's, web development, etc., and trade-secrets and proprietary company information which, if made public, or shared with competitors of the company could damage a company's revenues, or competitive advantage; I should have stressed that in my answer. Many companies can and do have employees sign non-competes when they are hired depending on what their job role is, and what specialized company-owned information and source-code they will have access to. Some companies, in terminating an employee, offer a termination financial package if the employee signs a non-compete, most often for some specific term, usually a year. Labor law, in the U.S. on a state basis, can come into play here: for example, in the state of Washington in the U.S., a court threw out a suit brought by a company against a dismissed employee who had signed a non-compete in order to get a termination package and who, the company believed, had violated the non-compete. Why did the court throw out the suit: because the defendant offered clear evidence that another employee had flagrantly violated the non-compete, and the company had not pursued that other employee. All that said, I think your manager "smells wrong," and you are doing the right thing to make a change. good luck, Bill
"In the River of Delights, Panic has not failed me." Jorge Luis Borges
