This Practice Note provides an overview of non-compete agreements between employers and employees. Historically non-compete agreements have been largely dependent on state law, though there have been federal legislative and administrative agency efforts to regulate and restrict them. This Note contains general information and is jurisdiction-neutral. For information on state law requirements, see Non-Compete Laws: State Q&A Tool and State Restrictive Covenants Toolkit. For information on non-competes in the health care industry, see Health Care Non-Compete State Law Chart: Overview.

For a 50-state comparison of non-compete laws and requirements generally, see Quick Compare Chart: State Non-Compete Laws.

For information about the FTC's non-compete rulemaking, legal challenges to the final rule, and other federal actions, see Box, Federal Efforts to Ban Worker Non-Competes.