Mary applies for a job writing software code for HP at its Palo Alto headquarters and HP standard employment letter requires every employee to agree that they will not work for a competitor of HP with one year after the end of their employment they don't want to invest in training, someone only to have them use those skills to benefit a competitor. Mary signed the agreement much later quits her job takes it one month vacation and goes work for Dale and Santa Clara. A competitor of HPHP can enforce that noncompete provisions against Mary, and prevent her from working for Dale.