Check whether your NDA quietly limits who you can hire
A non-solicitation clause in an NDA stops one or both parties from approaching the other's employees, and sometimes its customers, for a period after discussions. It often sits near the end of the agreement and can be easy to miss. Ask Search+ whether the NDA restricts soliciting or hiring, who is covered and for how long, and open the citation to read the restriction and its exceptions in full.
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Last updated October 2026
How to find a non-solicitation clause with Search+
- Upload the NDA
Upload the NDA in whatever form you have it, signed PDF or Word draft. If an offer letter or employment policy will interact with the restriction, upload that too.
- Ask whether the restriction exists and whom it covers
Ask "Does this NDA restrict soliciting or hiring the other party's employees or customers?" Then ask which employees are covered, for example only those you met during the discussions.
- Ask about the period and the exceptions
Ask how long the restriction lasts and whether general job advertisements or approaches started by the employee are allowed. Open each citation to read the conditions.
Questions about non-solicitation in an NDA
Does this NDA contain any restriction on soliciting or hiring the other party's employees?
Does the restriction cover all employees, or only those we came into contact with during the evaluation?
Does the clause also restrict approaching the other party's customers or suppliers?
How long does the non-solicitation restriction last, and from what date?
Are general advertisements or recruiter searches not aimed at the other party's staff allowed?
What to look for in a non-solicitation clause
A ban on soliciting stops you approaching people; a ban on hiring stops you employing them even if they approach you. The verbs matter, so read them in the cited text.
Narrow clauses cover only employees you met in the process; broad ones cover every employee. Some add contractors or customers.
Many clauses allow job postings and recruiter searches that are not targeted at the other party. Check whether yours does.
How far a non-solicitation restriction can be enforced depends on the governing law and the facts. Search+ shows you the wording; a lawyer can tell you what it means where you are.
Restrictions can appear in an obligations section or a separate covenant. Asking across the whole NDA, with citations, helps bring them out wherever they sit.
Non-solicitation wording and what it signals
| Wording you may see | What it usually signals | A follow-up question |
|---|---|---|
| "shall not solicit for employment" | A solicitation ban | Does it also stop us hiring someone who applies on their own? |
| "shall not hire or engage" | A hiring ban, which is broader | Does it apply to contractors as well as employees? |
| "with whom the Recipient had contact" | A narrow class of covered people | How is contact defined? |
| "general solicitation not directed at" | An advertising carve-out | Do recruiter searches count as general solicitation? |
| "for a period of" | The restricted period | When does the period start? |
What is a non-solicitation clause in an NDA?
It is a promise, inside or alongside a non-disclosure agreement, that a party will not try to recruit the other party's employees, and sometimes will not approach its customers, for a stated period.
Questions about non-solicitation in NDAs
Can Search+ tell me if my NDA has a non-solicitation clause?
Will it distinguish soliciting from hiring?
Can it tell me whether customers are covered too?
Can I find non-solicitation terms across many NDAs?
Does Search+ tell me if the clause is enforceable?
Find the hiring restriction before it surprises you
Start a workspace, upload the NDA, and ask whether it limits who you can hire.
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