To add an anecdote: on my last job search I got offers from two different but very similar companies (both around ~200 people).
I got one first, read through the contract, saw the standard clause about owning your whole life. I told them it was a deal-breaker if we couldn't get it changed. I got the standard response "oh we never act on that, lots of people here have side-projects", etc. I told them if that was the policy, it needed to be in writing. They escalated internally, talked with legal, etc, but the decision-makers ultimately wouldn't budge. I walked away, and told them in very plain terms that their legal department was responsible for how things turned out.
Shortly afterward I started the process with the second company. Got to the end, saw the clause, told them it was a deal-breaker. Discussed it on multiple calls with different people, eventually the CTO himself who was still reluctant to change it but was sympathetic. Eventually they were able to come back with a contract where that entire section was cut out. I took the offer and it's been a great job so far.
I guess what I'm saying is: hold out. Make a stink about these draconian contracts, and you'll eventually get through and find someone willing to be reasonable. Who knows, if enough people draw a line in the sand maybe it'll become a big enough roadblock that they'll stop putting it in the "standard" contracts.
Thirded, I would never knowingly work for a company with a clause like that. Whenever I see it, I strike it out and return the signed contract. Usually it's easier for them to just sign and get it over with than to go into a whole thing with legal.
This is startups, though. YMMV with big companies. Still, no way I'd accept them owning my considerable volume of (FOSS) side-projects.
I applied for a job as a network engineer with a (then large) UK ISP that had a "we will own all your IP", managed to negotiate that to "I keep anything done on my kit, on my time" (which is fair, I think). Then the ISP was acquired, we were promised that all extra contract negotiations would be honoured, but it seems my contract amendment was in one of a few boxes that somehow did not make it across.
Cue an exciting month or two when I technically had no contract, as the previous workplace no longer existed as a legal entity, but the new workplace had failed to come up with one having equivalent terms and conditions.
ETA: By "all IP", I literally mean "all IP", as it was worded, the company laid claim to even fiction. May have been challengable in court for over-reaching, but I felt much better renegotiating it to terms taht were more liveable-with.
Yes this was how the original contracts (and amendments) were in my original anecdotes. The purview over my non-tech projects was actually more disturbing to me than the tech projects. Creativity is a vital part of my life; I cannot be alive when it has a pall cast over it 24/7.
I totally agree, but in the age of DocuSign, how do you modify a document, sign it, and send it back? I often feel like I'm stuck waiting for the other party to modify the document first so I can sign.
A few years ago, my co. was acquired, and they wanted to change our contracts.
New contract had a clause: You cannot do any work - paid or unpaid - without the companies' express permission.
So, like, I can't fire the starting gun at the village 3-legged race without your say-so ?
Cue the usual "oh it's standard we never enforce it" BS. Entire team refused to sign. Eventually it got struck.
They similarly wanted to wheedle in 24/7 support rota into my contract. I simply crossed it out (annotated with a witness signature in the margin) and returned. Never heard about it again.
I work at a startup that had a similar clause. During hiring, I asked them to add some language that it was specific only to work that is competing in nature with the core business. CEO was happy to oblige. No issues with me doing side projects so far. It has been 4+ years. Big companies probably suck harder though.
I got one first, read through the contract, saw the standard clause about owning your whole life. I told them it was a deal-breaker if we couldn't get it changed. I got the standard response "oh we never act on that, lots of people here have side-projects", etc. I told them if that was the policy, it needed to be in writing. They escalated internally, talked with legal, etc, but the decision-makers ultimately wouldn't budge. I walked away, and told them in very plain terms that their legal department was responsible for how things turned out.
Shortly afterward I started the process with the second company. Got to the end, saw the clause, told them it was a deal-breaker. Discussed it on multiple calls with different people, eventually the CTO himself who was still reluctant to change it but was sympathetic. Eventually they were able to come back with a contract where that entire section was cut out. I took the offer and it's been a great job so far.
I guess what I'm saying is: hold out. Make a stink about these draconian contracts, and you'll eventually get through and find someone willing to be reasonable. Who knows, if enough people draw a line in the sand maybe it'll become a big enough roadblock that they'll stop putting it in the "standard" contracts.