Are discriminatory restrictive covenants illegal? Generally, yes. Since the United States Supreme Court's 1948 decision in the case Shelley v. Kraemer, restrictive covenants based on race have been unenforceableA contract will not be enforced by a court of law..
Noncompetes in the employment law context are expressly unlawful. Employers must notify California employees (and former employees) hired after January 1, 2022, that their noncompetes are void. (Employers had a deadline of February 14, 2024, to do this.)
A noncompete agreement has the ability to threaten your future job prospects, prohibit you from using your hard earned skills and compromise your livelihood. Fortunately, it is unlawful for an employer to enforce non-compete agreements in California.
11 - What difference does it make if a worker is an employee rather than an independent contractor? California's wage and hour laws (e.g., minimum wage, overtime, meal periods and rest breaks, etc.), workplace safety laws, unemployment insurance, and retaliation laws protect employees, but not independent contractors.
As with many things, however, California is different. California law explicitly voids all non-compete agreements for employees and independent contractors. These agreements are simply not enforceable, no matter how reasonable they may seem.
For more than 150 years, California has declared non-compete agreements unenforceable. In 1941, California codified its prohibition on non-competes in California Business and Professions Code sections 16600-16607.
Current and Future Agreements Agreements containing impermissible covenants are “unenforceable regardless of where or when the contract was signed” (BPC § 16600.5(a)), and regardless of whether “the employment was maintained outside of California” (BPC § 16600.5(b)).
Contracts Must Be in Writing Under the FWPA, contracts between hiring parties and freelance workers must be in writing. The hiring party must provide the freelance worker with a signed copy of the written contract, either physically or electronically, and must retain the contract for at least four years.
Traditionally, independent contractors in California have the rights to decide when and where they work, set their own fees, have multiple clients, have their own tools/materials, provide skills or expertise that is not part of a company's usual repertoire, etc.
As with many things, however, California is different. California law explicitly voids all non-compete agreements for employees and independent contractors. These agreements are simply not enforceable, no matter how reasonable they may seem.