- Washington effectively banned all non-compete
Health Care Non-Compete Legislation Q1 2026 Update
Virginia Enacts New Restrictions on Non-Compete Agreements
On March 5, 2026, we previously advised that Virginia’s Senate Bill 170 introduces new limitations on the enforceability of restrictive covenants by protecting employees who are terminated without cause. Effective April 13, 2026, that bill became law.
What Virginia Employers Need to Know
Non-competes entered into after July 1, 2026, will become unenforceable if the employer terminates the employee’s employment
Continue Reading Virginia Enacts New Restrictions on Non-Compete AgreementsGovernor Signs Washington’s New Noncompete Law: What Employers Should Know—and How to Prepare
Washington yesterday adopted a major shift in its approach to employee restrictive covenants. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1155 (ESHB 1155), approved by the Legislature in March 2026 and signed by the Governor yesterday, eliminates the use of noncompetition agreements in employment and independent contractor relationships beginning June 30, 2027 in specified situations including notices to existing agreement holders by October
Continue Reading Governor Signs Washington’s New Noncompete Law: What Employers Should Know—and How to PrepareVirginia Moves to Protect Laid Off Workers
Virginia’s Senate Bill 170 (2026 Session) introduces new limitations on the enforceability of restrictive covenants by protecting employees who are terminated without cause. More specifically, the proposed amendment will render any non-compete unenforceable against an employee who was discharged from employment unless severance benefits or other monetary payments are made to the employee. The law is silent as to what
Continue Reading Virginia Moves to Protect Laid Off WorkersLet’s Start at the Very Beginning: Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms That Consideration for Restrictive Covenants Is Measured at Contract Formation, Not Time of Enforcement
On February 3, 2026, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a short but highly anticipated order in North American Fire Ultimate Holdings, LP v. Doorly, reversing the Chancery Court’s dismissal of contract claims seeking to enforce restrictive covenants against a former senior executive. The decision clarifies that the existence of consideration supporting restrictive covenants must be evaluated at the time
Continue Reading Let’s Start at the Very Beginning: Delaware Supreme Court Reaffirms That Consideration for Restrictive Covenants Is Measured at Contract Formation, Not Time of EnforcementCalifornia Employment Contracts Must be Updated by January 1, 2026 for Stay-or-Pay Reforms
Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2026, new California law prohibits stay-or-pay clauses in contracts of employment with limited exceptions.
Under new Section 16608 of the California Business and Professions Code, effective January 1, 2026, employers are prohibited from entering into an employment contract or other contract relating to the employment relationship that requires an employee to repay any amount
Continue Reading California Employment Contracts Must be Updated by January 1, 2026 for Stay-or-Pay ReformsSeyfarth’s Josh Salinas Authors “Recent Developments in Employee Mobility, Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets 2025” in ABA Business Law Today
We are pleased to share that Seyfarth attorney Josh Salinas authored the article, “Recent Developments in Employee Mobility, Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets 2025,” published on August 11, 2025, in the American Bar Association’s Business Law Today.
In the article, Josh examines key developments in employee mobility, trade secret protections, and restrictive covenant enforcement over the past year. He highlights
Continue Reading Seyfarth’s Josh Salinas Authors “Recent Developments in Employee Mobility, Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets 2025” in ABA Business Law TodayFlorida Becomes Most Employer-Friendly State for Non-Competes
As jurisdictions around the country continue to impose limitations—or outright bans—on restrictive covenants, Florida is taking a decidedly different approach. The Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act (“the Act”) effective as of July 1, 2025 permits employers to use non-compete and garden leave restrictions up to 4 years in length with qualifying “covered employees,” along
Continue Reading Florida Becomes Most Employer-Friendly State for Non-CompetesNon-Compete Agreements in Health Care: A Rapidly Evolving Legal Landscape
In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s recently failed attempt to ban non-compete agreements between employers and workers,[1] individual states have once again taken up the mantle of further regulating and limiting their use. These states’ new efforts have appeared with greatest frequency in the health care sector.
In states where noncompete laws have recently changed, legislatures appear
Continue Reading Non-Compete Agreements in Health Care: A Rapidly Evolving Legal LandscapeRestrictive Covenant Law For The First Four Months of 2025
With the FTC Ban on non-competes essentially dead in the Courts of Appeal, various states and agencies have taken up the mantle to further limit or expand the use of restrictive covenants for certain populations in 2025.
Below is a list of major legislative changes, judicial decisions, and agency actions at the state and federal level affecting non-compete agreements in
Continue Reading Restrictive Covenant Law For The First Four Months of 2025