Non-Compete

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Q: My company is headquartered in Massachusetts. Does the new Massachusetts law on non-competes change how I structure non-compete agreements with employees?

A: Massachusetts recently enacted a new law outlining the requirements for valid employee non-competition agreements.  The law will go into effect for non-competition agreements entered into on October 1, 2018 and later.  Agreements signed prior to the new law will remain valid.

Georgia’s new statutory law of restrictive covenants became effective more than three years ago, on May 11, 2011.  The significance of the new law cannot be overstated.  Prior to the new law, Georgia Courts were required to follow sometimes arcane rules of construction that frequently resulted in covenants being invalidated in their entirety based on what seemed to be trivial defects.

Until recently, Georgia was one of the most difficult states in which to enforce a non-compete or other restrictive covenant agreement against employees who left their jobs, set up their own business or went to work for a competitor.  In 2009, the Georgia Legislature decide to change this by enacting legislation intended to clarify the law on non-compete agreements as well as other restrictive covenants (such as non-solicitation and non-disclosure provisions).

While the goal was clear, the legislation was not.  The law that was enacted (and the amendment to the Georgia Constitution that was needed to permit the new legislation) left confusion about when the new law would take effect.