I'm no lawyer, but I'm positive a non-compete in this case is totally unenforceable, even if the company bothered to try to enforce it. When you go looking for a new job, maybe take on a 1099 gig and a sign a non-compete before you start, well, that might be enforceable. Having a pink slip dangled in front of you while being told to sign a non-compete? Not bloody likely. Some states have "blue pencil" laws, where the judge is allowed to cross out parts of a non-compete he or she doesn't like.

He -already- said he's going to quit genius. Did you miss that?

How come in a thread with so many luminaries, i am then one of the very few that has acknowledged the simple fact that the man has already outright stated that he cannot continue on with the employer?

Why are so many here advising the man to do exactly what he said he cannot live with doing?

So eating a crap burger and staying with a company that fired your dad and cut your pay 30% is "being a man?"

I'd call that being a cowardly dog who is afraid to stand by his principals, myself.

Thank you for a little dose of reality here.

UC is insurance, you pay into it, why should you not collect it when appropriate?

How is it fair that if you quit after getting totally fked by a company you are not entitled to it, but if you get fired you are? Answer: It's not fair, of course, just as life is not fair.
Is it fair that the company now gets fked right back after they can their entire workforce and the couple people they retain don't put forth the same effort? I would say that yes, not only is it fair, it's karma.

You reap what you sow. This company has sowed it, now fairness demands that it should reap the rewards in the form of poorly motivated employees skating by.

Poor?

I have every modern convenience, 2 cars, a V-8 Porsche, a nice little spoon collection, all my bills are paid, and i have all the free time on earth.

That's poor?

Dude, you need to SERIOUSLY readjust your mindset as to what the word "poor" means.

A lot of you do. Seriously.

Being rich or poor has almost nothing to do with money.

I consider myself to be rich in many ways. For one thing, i am no body's beotch. Sounds like the advice of at least half of you is, "be a beotch."

PS, i think UC is more like 3+ years now. The Emperor Obama just extended it again.

Some of you act like the employer owes an employee something. That sense of entitlement really rubs me the wrong way. In most cases, an employee is a commodity. No more. Don't like it? Get off your a$$ and find another job or start your own biz. Just stop whining about it.

Or, as some of you will, go to the government teat and start suckling. Friggin pathetic.

Every time my company pulls some incredible BS on the sales folks, I keep the above in mind and say this BS is my punishment for not starting my own business.

Some of you (not you Rick) act like an employee owes an employer something. A job is just a commodity.

UC is not the government teet, it is insurance that the worker pays into. IMO, someone who gets totally fked by their company and has their pay slashed 30% is perfectly in the right to want to sever ties, collect UC, and look for greener pastures.

It AMAZES me that some of you seem so incapable of seeing that.

This is not "just business," these are people's lives.

If you live in a state where unemployment pays 70% of what you were making before and you can keep yourself eligible to collect, then it might not be too bad a deal to tell your company to eff off. I think in AZ the max. payout is $261 per week. I make well over that in a day, so I'm gonna try to keep my job a bit longer and stay off unemployment. This is a very bad time to be looking for a job.

Without more details about the industry, specifics about this man's job, financial situation, or employer it's impossible for us to really pass judgment here.

But given the few facts we have, I stand by my take that he ought not quit, but reduce output commensurate with the current compensation. Ideally, use any "extra" time to look for another job.

Really, you guys expect him to bust his arse with a smile on his face while they're screwing him, out of some moral obligation or old-fashioned work ethic? Karma, maybe?

My take is that a 30% reduction is a slap in the face, and they've essentially fired you already without actually doing so. They don't give a crap about you or your family.

The companies I've worked for find ways to keep desirable employees happy even in tough times. Whacking your old man and giving you a huge pay cut is not exactly giving me a warm and fuzzy that this is all going to work out rosy in the end if you just suck it up and act like a good little worker-bee.

But maybe that's just me.

As i said, it depends on his actual circumstances whether UC is comparable to his pay less his 30% pay cut.

But whatever the amount, UC is certainly better than nothing, which is what quitting out of sheer principle would get him.

Be careful Martin, agreeing with me makes you wrong 96% of the time. ;)

I agree with your entire post 100%, but especially the part in bold.

Why should he be the good soldier after this company just fked not just him, but his father?

To hell with that.

PS: It also amazes me how many of you get all pissy about the suggestion of slacking at work when almost all of you should be working right this very moment, not posting on an internet message board. There is a word in the dictionary, especially for you folks. Know what it is?

Hypocrite.