State Non-Compete Legislation Update

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Yet another state has made it harder for businesses to implement restrictive covenants—this time with criminal penalties.

Colorado’s restrictive covenants statute already provides that it is unlawful to “use force, threats, or other means of intimidation to prevent any person from engaging in any lawful occupation,” and further states that non-competes are invalid unless they fall into one of four categories:

  1. Covenants made in connection with the purchase and sale of a business (or the assets of a business);
  2. Covenants made for the protection of trade secrets;
  3. Covenants for the recovery of expenses incurred in educating and training employees who were employed for less than 2 years; and
  4. Covenants for executive and management personnel (and their professional staff) and officers.

That has been the law in Colorado for years—but a new, draconian portion of the statute will go into effect in just over a month.
Continue Reading Colorado Criminalizes Attempts to Curb Competition

What You Need to Know about the Recent Cases and Developments in Trade Secrets, Restrictive Covenants, and Computer Fraud

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In the first installment of the 2022 Trade Secrets Webinar Series,…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! 2021 Trade Secrets & Non-Competes Year in Review

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On August 13, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law Public Act 102-0358, which amends the Illinois Freedom to Work Act and sets forth specific requirements for the enforceability of restrictive covenant agreements in Illinois for agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2022.

Income Thresholds
To be enforceable, as of the law’s effective date, non-compete agreements may only be…
Continue Reading What Employers Need to Know Regarding Illinois’ New Restrictive Covenant Law

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For the fourth time in six years, Oregon is in the news again for an update to its non-compete laws.

Prior Oregon Law

Oregon last updated its non-compete laws just two years ago, with a statute that requires employers to provide terminated employees with a signed, written copy of their non-compete within 30 days of termination. That new obligation was in addition to other Oregon-specific requirements, including:

  1. Similar to Massachusetts’ 2018 law, the employer must inform the employee that a non-compete is a condition of employment in a written employment offer received at least two weeks before the employee’s first day, or the agreement must entered into upon a “bona fide” promotion;
  2. The employee must be engaged in administrative, executive, or professional work and must (a) perform predominantly intellectual, managerial or creative tasks, (b) exercise discretion and independent judgment, and (c) be salaried;
  3. The employee’s gross annual salary and commissions at the time of termination exceeds the median family income for a four-person family; and
  4. The duration of non-compete duration could not exceed 18 months.

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Continue Reading Oregon Blazes a Trail of Non-Compete Amendments

In a move aligned with California’s view of non-competes, the District of Columbia (subject to congressional oversight) will soon impose a complete ban on any employment covenant that restricts employment elsewhere at any time, even restrictions forbidding simultaneous employment somewhere else. On January 11, 2021, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), which will soon become law unless Congress issues a joint resolution disapproving the Act within 30 days of receipt of the Act. The projected date for the Act to become law is March 19, 2021. Then, in all likelihood, the Act will go into effect in the fall of 2021 once the DC Council tees up a fiscal impact statement and funding for the Act after the next budget cycle.
Continue Reading District of Columbia’s Sweeping Ban on Non-Competes