California has passed two new items of legislation, Senate Bill 699 and Assembly Bill 1076, which will further regulate and restrict the enforcement of employment non-compete agreements in California, and expand the scope of remedies for those affected by them. These new laws will become effective on January 1, 2024, and now is the time for employers to assess and revise their employment-related agreements and restrictive covenants accordingly. As detailed below, they also require employers to notify employees and certain former employees by February 15, 2024 that certain non-compete provisions are void. The two new laws are detailed below.Continue Reading California Strengthens Non-Competition Law
Employment Agreements
Buyer Beware: Delaware Declines to Enforce Sale of Business Non-Compete
Courts and state legislatures continue to take aim at post-employment non-competes. In a companion blog, we recently detailed the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule banning post-employment non-competes. However, for years (and even under the FTC’s overreaching proposed rule), non-competes in the sale of business context have generally received less scrutiny.Continue Reading Buyer Beware: Delaware Declines to Enforce Sale of Business Non-Compete
The District of Columbia Revises Ban on Non-Competes
On July 27, 2022, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed into law the Non-Compete Clarification Amendment Act of 2022, scaling back certain aspects of D.C.’s original Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020. As we previously reported, the original ban included some of the most substantial non-compete restrictions in the country, including prohibiting the use of non-compete agreements for nearly all employees working in D.C. and banning anti-moonlighting policies. Here are some key takeaways from the Amendment:
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Illinois Governor Signs Non-Compete Legislation
On August 13, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law a bill amending the Illinois Freedom to Work Act governing restrictive covenants and non-competition agreements. On May 30, 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill codifying existing noncompete law in some respects and modifying it in others. We detailed the Bill in a prior blog here. The Bill is now the law. The amendments become effective on January 1, 2022 and will not apply retroactively.
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What Employers Need to Know About New Non-Compete Legislation in Illinois
Following a nationwide trend, Illinois has proposed significant legislation affecting employee restrictive covenants, such as non-compete agreements. While the proposed law does not dramatically change most aspects of the patchwork of Illinois common law, it adds certainty to long-questioned areas and imposes several threshold hurdles and eligibility factors to the test for assessing enforceable restrictive covenants.
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Employment Agreements: DC’s Recent Ban on Non-Competes is One of the Broadest in the Country
On January 11, 2021, the mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, signed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which is set to be one of the broadest and most expansive bans on non-competes in the country. The Act bans provisions in employment agreements that forbid any employee from working for a competitor not only after their employment, but also during their employment. While the Act does not apply retroactively, any non-compete entered into after the Act’s effective date is void and unenforceable.
The Act was submitted for the requisite 30-day congressional review period and is expected to become law in the coming months.
Continue Reading Employment Agreements: DC’s Recent Ban on Non-Competes is One of the Broadest in the Country