Research on Legal Application Issues of the Non-Competition System

Abstract

The non-competition system, stipulated in the Labor Contract Law, is a legal system that protects the trade secrets of employers, balances the freedom of oc-cupation choice and market order by restricting the post-employment non-compete behaviors of workers. It faces three predicaments in practice: first, the generalization of the applicable subjects, leading to the random inclusion of ordinary positions; second, the formalization of trade secret review, where judi-cial practice focuses on the form of agreement signing, neglects the substantive verification of the "three attributes" (secrecy, value, and confidentiality) of trade secrets, and publicly known information is often misidentified; third, the imbalance in the economic compensation system, with significant differences in standards across regions.Based on this, first, legislation should refine the ele-ments for "other personnel" to have substantial access to trade secrets, exclud-ing non-secret-related positions; second, judicially, a substantive review stand-ard for the "three attributes" of trade secrets should be established, requiring employers to provide evidence; finally, it is necessary to unify the national minimum standard for economic compensation to balance protection and fair-ness.