compete agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2022, is void unless: The employee receives adequate consideration. The agreement is ancillary to a valid employment relationship. The agreement is no greater than is required for the protection of a legitimate business interest of the employer.
The 2.5 miles radius would be reasonable. However, Illinois courts will not enforce a non-compete unless the employee received "something of value" in return. This is usually considered to be at least two years of employment or other benefits.
Illinois prohibits non-compete agreements between an employer and low-wage employees, including non-competes that restrict a low- wage employee from performing work in a specified geographical area, and work for another employer that is similar to the employee's work for the employer that is party to the agreement (see ...
For employees who are not low-wage employees, under Illinois common law, non-competes are enforceable if the employer terminated employment in good faith and with good cause (Rao v. Rao, 718 F.
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its final rule regarding non-compete clauses. The final rule bans most non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The effective date of the final rule is September 4, 2024.
Proving there was a breach of your employment contract is another way that you can defeat a non-compete agreement. If your employer did not fulfill the employment contract terms, they likely can't force you to stick to a non-compete agreement. This is known as a material breach.
NDAs with employees are generally legal in Illinois. However, there are certain limits employers need to be aware of, and several best practices that will help ensure your agreement is immune from challenge in court.
V. Kohan,2 the court rejected defendant's argument that the Act barred enforcement of the non-compete agreement he signed in 2020 since the Act was not adopted until January 2022 and does not have retroactive effect.
Id. § 35(a). Finally, the amendment explicitly recognizes two limitations on its application. First, it only applies to agreements “entered into after the effective date” of the amendment (i.e., January 1, 2022) and is not retroactive.