If you're genuinely worried about this, I'd +1 the other people who say ask a lawyer (or get a new job that's less strict, re-initialize your git repos to update the dates, and then publish them).
Regarding finding other work, while having open source contributions and a public Github full of examples is nice, I don't believe it's an absolute make-or-break for getting another job. Such a huge percentage of getting hired is how well you click with your interviewers, and if a company only hires people who are prolific in their evenings (after their 40-hour work week, cooking, cleaning, and trying to have some semblance of a social life), then you probably don't want to work there either. If you're not happy with the company, I think you should start hunting, and not worry about filling up your Github before you do.
As for that clause, there's definitely a similar clause in my contract, though it's by no means as strict. I know a number of people at my workplace that have side projects (I definitely do). In general, I think these clauses are used to protect corporate interests and dissuade employees from stealing proprietary knowledge and then later competing with them.
Good luck! Hope my rambling helps a bit. It sucks to find that out after you've been at a place a while, particularly if you've already put a bunch of time into your side projects. I hope you find a workplace that's more supportive of your personal endeavors!
I would agree - unless you are in a super-specialized industry, have a very specific skill set, or in a pure software industry, you probably don't need to have side projects to demo or support open-source to get another job - this is from someone who hires IT professionals including the occasional programmer.
And lets be honest - they mostly worry about you doing side projects on "their" time 😊
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If you're genuinely worried about this, I'd +1 the other people who say ask a lawyer (or get a new job that's less strict, re-initialize your git repos to update the dates, and then publish them).
Regarding finding other work, while having open source contributions and a public Github full of examples is nice, I don't believe it's an absolute make-or-break for getting another job. Such a huge percentage of getting hired is how well you click with your interviewers, and if a company only hires people who are prolific in their evenings (after their 40-hour work week, cooking, cleaning, and trying to have some semblance of a social life), then you probably don't want to work there either. If you're not happy with the company, I think you should start hunting, and not worry about filling up your Github before you do.
As for that clause, there's definitely a similar clause in my contract, though it's by no means as strict. I know a number of people at my workplace that have side projects (I definitely do). In general, I think these clauses are used to protect corporate interests and dissuade employees from stealing proprietary knowledge and then later competing with them.
Good luck! Hope my rambling helps a bit. It sucks to find that out after you've been at a place a while, particularly if you've already put a bunch of time into your side projects. I hope you find a workplace that's more supportive of your personal endeavors!
I would agree - unless you are in a super-specialized industry, have a very specific skill set, or in a pure software industry, you probably don't need to have side projects to demo or support open-source to get another job - this is from someone who hires IT professionals including the occasional programmer.
And lets be honest - they mostly worry about you doing side projects on "their" time 😊