Illinois employers now have a concrete measure of the risks associated with systemic noncompliance with the Illinois Freedom to Work Act. On October 9, 2026, the Illinois Attorney General announced a $1.9 million settlement with Equinox Holdings, Inc., the operator of well-known upscale fitness clubs, resolving allegations that the company required hundreds of Illinois employees to sign non-compete and non-solicitation…

Continue Reading Illinois Attorney General’s Equinox Action Signals High Stakes for Non-Compete Compliance

For more than a decade, health care noncompete legislation largely focused on a familiar target: physician restrictive covenants.

That paradigm is rapidly disappearing.

Across the country, legislatures are no longer asking simply whether physician noncompetes should be enforceable. Instead, states are adopting increasingly diverse regulatory frameworks that address workforce mobility, market concentration, patient access, continuity of care, and the role…

Continue Reading A New Era of Health Care Noncompetes: Emerging Models and the Future of Labor Mobility

Thursday, May 28, 2026
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Two years after the FTC’s landmark final rule on non-compete agreements, and more than a year after the rule was set aside by a federal court, employers…

Continue Reading Webinar – FTC Non-Compete Ban Two Years Later: Enforcement & Workarounds

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 Agreements

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 Prepare

Washington State has long taken a skeptical view of noncompetition agreements—and that skepticism is now on the brink of becoming a complete ban. Both chambers of the Legislature have approved Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB) 1155, and the bill now awaits Governor Bob Ferguson’s signature, which is widely expected.

If signed, the law will dramatically reshape Washington’s restrictive covenant landscape. It…

Continue Reading Washington State Poised to Ban Noncompetition Agreements: What Employers Need to Know

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 Workers
  • Enforceability of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements
  • Statutory notice, timing, and wage threshold requirements
  • Judicial trends and
… Continue Reading Now Available! Seyfarth’s 2026 50-State Non-Compete Desktop Reference — Your Essential Guide

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 Reforms