Non-Compete agreement?
Anyone who has danced for a while has at some point encountered some version of a non-compete agreement as part of her club contract. If you don’t sign the agreement, they won’t let you work, but if you do sign it, are you doomed to stay at the new club forever?
Nope. These agreements are unenforceable by law. It only really applies when you are an employee of a large corporation and have access to secret business information (like the formula for KFC’s original recipe, for instance). Even at that, if you should decided to move to a new job at a competing company, you are only barred from sharing that “secret” info with your new employer.
Strip clubs and agents know this. They make you sign the non-compete agreement anyway in order to scare you away from trying to work for the competition. They could, of course, refuse to let you work at their club or agency if they discover you are two-timing them. That is just a chance you take, but they don’t need you to sign some legalese-sounding document to stop you from dancing for their business.
So don’t worry if a club or agent makes you sign some paper that says you won’t work for another club or agency within 50 miles and/or 2 years after quitting. They can’t do anything about it. Even if you want to work 2 days a week at club “A” and 2 days a week at club “B”, neither club has exclusive rights to your performance.
Be smart, and know that the clubs and agencies need you more than you need them.
