Problem 1: Should the law allow noncompete agreements, but require employers to compensate employees in some way for signing them?
Problem 2: What form should that compensation take? Is money enough, given an employer's ability to "reset" the compensation scale, or is some other form of compensation necessary? For example, should employers have to offer termination packages that pay a former employee's health insurance for one year, pay a lump sum upon termination, pay for a job search firm, etc.?
Problem 3: Since many employers' train employees to some extent, does the justification for treating noncompete agreements differently based on whether the employee's training was specific to the employer or was generally useful make sense?
Problem 4: Should the fact that the employer financed the training be enough to give the employer a "protected interest" of some kind?