A Stranglehold on Human Capital

Columnist Mark Sheffert makes a very good point that workers should be treated as valuable company assets [“Drilling for Human Capital Reserves,” February]. But most of our large manufacturers treat their technically creative employees much like “technical slaves.”

These employers require workers to sign a crippling “employment agreement,” which claims blanket ownership of the employees’ inventions as a con-dition of employment. (No million-dollar signing bonus here.) Companies are certainly entitled to own the inventions they finance, but I find these firms often use that agreement to keep a stranglehold on the creativity of their employees, which certainly stifles the overall growth of our economy.

Over my 30-year R&D engineering career (I’m now retired), I have seen numerous cases of employers claiming unwanted inventions and then using the employment agreement to “sit on” them indefinitely. One of my former employers even claimed ownership of an invention that I developed on my own time, in my basement shop, and having absolutely nothing to do with my job! He didn’t even want it; he just insisted on complete 24-hour control of my brain!

After many years of this abuse, we have pushed for a simple “Use or Return” law in the Minnesota Legislature (SF217-HF391) regarding employee inventions. This landmark “Creative Freedom Act” promises long-term economic stimulus for both employers and employees, yet never costs the taxpayers one cent!

Robert Nepper

North St. Paul