A covenant is fundamentally not a self-centered agreement. Sixth, a covenant entails holiness while a contract does not. Because marriage is a covenant, marriage is holy. That's why we refer to marriage as “holy matrimony.” To say your mate is “holy” doesn't mean that he or she is perfect.
Basically the signers of a contract agree to hold up their ends as long as the other signatories hold up theirs too. With a covenant, both parties agree to hold up their ends regardless of whether the other party keeps their part of the agreement.
"Adequate consideration" means (1) the employee worked for the employer for at least 2 years after the employee signed an agreement containing a covenant not to compete or a covenant not to solicit or (2) the employer otherwise provided consideration adequate to support an agreement to not compete or to not solicit, ...
It's a covenant. Rabbi Jonathen Sacks clarifies the difference: “A contract is a transaction. A covenant is a relationship.
A contract is an agreement between parties while a covenant is a pledge. A contract is an agreement you can break while a covenant is a perpetual promise. You seal a covenant while you sign a contract. A contract is a mutually beneficial relationship while a covenant is something you fulfill.
The agreement must not cause hardship on the employee. The Illinois Freedom to Work Act puts other limits on these agreements. Non-compete agreements cannot be used if an employee earns less than $75,000 per year. (Note: this salary baseline increases in 2027 and in 5 year periods after that.)
A covenant is different than a contract, it's the mutual binding of lives together. Rather than something that protects its own interest from the other, it builds a new thing alongside one another.
A covenant is different from a contract because a contract is a legal agreement establishing rights between a group of people, while a covenant brings people together and unites them in a loving relationship.
Contracts involve mutual surrenders of rights. Covenants are the most important case of contracts because they involve promises of future action. It is the covenant itself that is supposed to make the difference between the performance of the action and its non-performance.