The non-compete lawyers at Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. have been fighting for the workplace rights of Connecticut employees for decades. Our law firm represents individuals from all walks of life – from corporate executives to hourly workers – in every aspect of employment law. This includes counseling employees about non-competes, both when they are thinking about signing them and when they are considering the scope and enforceability of non-competes they already signed.

If you are concerned about a non-competition agreement, speak with experienced Connecticut non-compete lawyers to understand your options.

What is a non-compete agreement?

Also known as a non-competition agreement or covenant not to compete, a non-compete is a contract between an employee and an employer that prohibits the employee from engaging in a business that competes with his or her current employer’s business within a certain geographic area for a certain period of time.

Non-compete agreements are typically one-sided; they exist only to protect the employer. Worse still, they can cause real problems for employees who are looking for new jobs. Non-competes by their very nature restrict the free movement of labor by forcing employees to keep jobs they don’t want or risk losing their livelihoods altogether. That is why some states – most prominently California – have refused to recognize or enforce non-competes at all.

Non-competes are one form of restrictive covenant. Other common forms of restrictive covenants are non-solicitation agreements (which prohibit a former employee from enticing their former colleagues to leave that employee’s former employer) or non-service agreements (which prohibit a former employee from providing services to customers of that employee’s former employer).

Am I required to agree to a non-compete agreement?

No. A non-compete is a contract, and you cannot be forced to sign any contract. However, not agreeing to a non-compete may cost you your potential job (or your current job, if your current employer now wants you to sign an agreement that did not previously apply to your employment). In other words, it is often legal to deny you a job or to terminate your employment because you refuse to sign a non-compete. So employees need to be very careful about how they handle the negotiation and signing of non-competes.

Didn’t the federal government ban non-competes?

No. Many people mistakenly believe that the Federal Trade Commission during the Biden Administration banned non-competes nationwide. That is what they tried to do, but the administrative action never went into effect, and the results of the 2024 election mean that it is very unlikely to be effective going forward.

What factors do courts look at to determine whether a non-compete agreement is enforceable?

Non-compete agreements are analyzed under state law, and each state has its own different standards concerning the validity of non-competes. Some states ban them entirely; others have laws that target particular industries; others rely on the courts to determine what is reasonable. In states that rely on the courts to police non-competes, there are some common factors that courts examine to determine whether a non-compete agreement is enforceable:

Does the employer have some legitimate interest it is protecting with the non-compete agreement?
What is the geographic scope of the restriction?
How long is the non-compete agreement in force?
Does the agreement keep you from doing a type of work very different from what you had been doing?
Did the employer provide you with additional compensation or benefits in return for getting your agreement to sign the non-compete?

How does Connecticut regulate non-competes?

According to Connecticut law, a non-compete is only enforceable against a former employee if it is “reasonable.” What is “reasonable” for a non-compete is determined through a five-part test. The parts are:

The duration of the restriction. Generally speaking, longer restrictions are harder to enforce. But it is not unusual for courts to enforce restrictions of a year or even longer, depending on the circumstances.
The geographic area covered by the restriction. Generally speaking, the greater the area covered by the non-compete, the less likely it is to be found “reasonable” and thus enforceable. A non-compete that covers just New Haven is likely more reasonable than one that covers all of Connecticut.
Whether the restriction prevents the former employee from pursuing his or her occupation and earning a living.
Whether the protection afforded to the former employer is fair and justified under the circumstances.
Whether the interest of the public is adversely affected by the restriction.

If a non-compete is unreasonable under any one of the five parts, then it is unenforceable in Connecticut. Non-competes, then, can be too broad to be “reasonable” and, therefore, enforceable, but they can also be enforceable in Connecticut if the courts find them to be “reasonable.”

This five-part, disjunctive test is developed on a case-by-case basis, meaning there are few if any bright line rules when it comes to Connecticut non-competes. So the answer to whether non-competes are enforceable in Connecticut is: It depends.

The exception to this general rule is non-competes affecting Connecticut healthcare providers. For medical doctors, nurse practitioners (APRNs), and physician assistants (PAs), non-competes may not last for more than one year and may not extend more than 15 miles from the primary site where the provider practices. And non-competes affecting these professionals are unenforceable if the employer terminates the physician, APRN, or PA without cause. (The statute concerning physicians is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-14p; for APRNs, it’s § 20-101d; for physician assistants, it’s § 20-12k.)

Contact Garrison Law for a Review of Your Employment Contracts

If you’re unsure as to the validity of your non-compete contract, you need to talk to one of our employment law attorneys. You should have your employment contract – including any non-compete – reviewed before you begin working for a competitor.

At Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C., we have nearly 50 years of experience litigating employment law cases. If you need legal guidance about a Connecticut non-compete, contact our non-compete lawyers for a consultation.