Reopen "Should I notify my employer that I intend to work on an open-source or personal project in my free time"

Question

My question was put on hold as off-topic because:

Questions seeking advice on company-specific regulations, agreements, or policies should be directed to your manager or HR department. Questions that address only a specific company or position are of limited use to future visitors. Questions seeking legal advice should be directed to legal professionals

I have reworded my question to meet the rules. The question's scoped has changed a little bit, but I still think its a good question that would be helpful for other people (it has 12 upvotes so far), it already has two good answers, and I really think it should not be closed.

Nevertheless, I am sure that:

• It is not limited on company-specific regulations. It applies for lots of companies, as it's a very common limitation in lots of contracts. I didn't even have to copy the referenced part from my own contract: I've just picked it out from a huge list of similar contracts I've found after some googling.
• I'm definitively not looking for a legal advice. I'm looking for an advice on how I should handle this situation. I think it's very clear in the title.

So, please reconsider re-opening it. If you think it still needs more editing or rewording, please tell me how I could improve it.

Thanks

Answer 1

It's a very common issue, but different companies draw the lines in very different places. I've lost track of how many times my own employer has changed their rules, and that's one company. There really is no general answer beyond "ask your employer what their current policy is." And that's grounds for closing the question.

I'm not sure the question could be rewritten to avoid that without becoming a poll question, which is also considered inappropriate here, or a "can they do that" which is a legal question and again out of scope.

If someone can come up with a formulation which does pass muster, great. Until then...