By Andrew P. Botti
Although burning the midnight oil last night, a Joint Conference Committee failed to reach agreement on a compromise bill by the established deadline of midnight, July 31.
Among other differences, the House and Senate versions of so-called non-compete reform contained very different “garden leave” provisions.
The House version required 50% pay for a one year “sit it out” period, while the Senate version required 100% pay for a maximum 3 month non-compete period. The House version also allowed the parties to come up with another form of acceptable consideration to support the non-compete period.
The Governor indicated that he favored the House version of the proposed reform.
At this point, the issue of non-compete reform is off the table until January 2017, the start of the next legislative session on Beacon Hill.