Allowed if reasonable

Non-compete law in Florida

Florida enforces written, signed restrictive covenants that are reasonable in time, area and line of business and protect a legitimate business interest (Fla. Stat. § 542.335); presumptions treat employee restraints of 6 months or less as reasonable and more than 2 years as unreasonable, and courts must modify overbroad covenants and may not weigh individual hardship. Since July 1, 2025 the CHOICE Act (ch. 542, part II) makes 'covered noncompete' and 'covered garden leave' agreements of up to 4 years fully enforceable, with mandatory preliminary injunctions, for employees and individual contractors earning more than twice their county's annual mean wage, excluding health care practitioners.

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Employee non-competes
Not banned; conditions apply
Pay floor
A test with no single figure in 2026, adjusted annually (tracks the BLS annual mean wage)
How pay is measured
Applies only to the CHOICE Act agreements (§ 542.43(3)): 'salary' greater than twice the annual mean wage (BLS, all occupations) of the county where the employer's principal place of business is in Florida, or the county where the employee resides if the employer's principal place of business is outside Florida. Salary = annualized base compensation (excluding health benefits, severance, retirement, expense reimbursement, discretionary incentives, and indeterminable pay such as tips, bonuses, commissions). No dollar figure is published in the statute; it varies by county and BLS release. Ordinary § 542.335 covenants have no pay threshold.
Duration
§ 542.335(1)(d)1.: for a former employee, agent or independent contractor, a restraint of 6 months or less is presumed reasonable and more than 2 years presumed unreasonable (rebuttable); trade-secret-based restraints presumed reasonable at 5 years or less and unreasonable above 10 (§ 542.335(1)(e)). CHOICE Act covered noncompete: up to 4 years (§ 542.43(6)); covered garden leave: up to 4 years of notice (§ 542.43(5)).
Notice
§ 542.335(1)(a): must be in a writing signed by the person bound. CHOICE Act: employer must provide the proposed agreement at least 7 days before the offer expires; employee must be advised in writing of the right to seek counsel and acknowledge in writing that he or she will receive confidential information or customer relationships (§ 542.45(2)-(3)); a covered garden leave agreement needs the same advice and acknowledgment and 7-day notice (§ 542.44(2)-(3)).
Consideration
None stated in § 542.335 (legitimate business interest must be pleaded and proved, § 542.335(1)(b)). CHOICE Act: garden leave requires the employer to keep paying the same salary and benefits during the notice period (§ 542.43(5)(c)); the noncompete period is reduced day-for-day by any non-working garden leave (§ 542.45(2)(c)).
Pay during the restriction
CHOICE Act covered garden leave agreement: up to 4 years' advance notice of termination, employee agrees not to resign early, employer keeps paying the same salary and benefits (not discretionary incentives); after the first 90 days the employee need not work, may engage in non-work activities, may work elsewhere with the employer's permission, and the employer can shorten the period on 30 days' written notice (§§ 542.43(5), 542.44).

Exceptions and special rules

  • Sale of a business: the statute allows a non-compete given by a seller.
  • Sellers of all or part of a business, shares, partnership or LLC interest or other equity: restraint of 3 years or less presumed reasonable, more than 7 years presumed unreasonable (§ 542.335(1)(d)3.)
  • Distributors, dealers, franchisees and trademark licensees (not sale-related): 1 year or less presumed reasonable, more than 3 years unreasonable (§ 542.335(1)(d)2.)
  • CHOICE Act agreements exclude 'health care practitioners' as defined in § 456.001 (§ 542.43(3))
  • Physician (ch. 458 or 459) practicing a specialty in a county where one entity employs or contracts with all physicians practicing that specialty. A restrictive covenant with such a physician is not supported by a legitimate business interest and is void and unenforceable; it stays void for 3 years after a second entity begins offering that specialty in the county. (Fla. Stat. § 542.336 (ch. 2019-138, s. 10))
  • Health care practitioner (§ 456.001). Not a 'covered employee' under the CHOICE Act, so the 4-year covered noncompete/garden-leave rules do not apply; ordinary § 542.335 governs. (Fla. Stat. § 542.43(3))

Non-solicitation clauses

No separate non-solicitation statute: non-solicitation covenants are 'restrictive covenants' under § 542.335, which also protects substantial relationships with specific existing or prospective customers, patients or clients as a legitimate business interest (§ 542.335(1)(b)3.). CHOICE Act 'covered noncompete' is defined as a promise not to assume a role with another business (§ 542.43(6)); it does not mention non-solicitation.

Contracts naming another state's law

CHOICE Act applies to a covered employee whose primary place of work is in Florida regardless of any choice-of-law provision, or to an employer whose principal place of business is in Florida under an agreement expressly governed by Florida law (§§ 542.44(1), 542.45(1)); where it conflicts with other law, the CHOICE Act governs. Any restrictive covenant outside the CHOICE definitions is governed by § 542.335 (§ 542.45, final paragraph).

Remedies

§ 542.335(1)(j): court shall enforce by any appropriate remedy including temporary and permanent injunctions; violation creates a presumption of irreparable injury; a bond is required and cannot be waived by contract. § 542.335(1)(k): court may award fees and costs to the prevailing party absent a contract term. § 542.335(1)(c): overbroad restraints are modified, not voided. CHOICE Act: court must preliminarily enjoin the covered employee (and a new employer) unless the employee proves by clear and convincing evidence, on nonconfidential information, specified exceptions; prevailing party gets reasonable fees and costs; damages remain available (§ 542.45(5)).

Which agreements it covers

§ 542.335: restrictive covenants entered into on or after 1996-07-01 (§ 542.335(3)). CHOICE Act: effective July 1, 2025; the enrolled bill HB 1219 contains no separate applicability section, so whether it reaches agreements signed before that date is not stated in the text.

Recent changes

  • 2025-07-01. CS/CS/CS/HB 1219 (ch. 2025-213, Laws of Florida) created part II of ch. 542, the Florida CHOICE Act (ss. 542.41-542.45), and designated existing ss. 542.15-542.36 as part I, the 'Florida Antitrust Act of 1980'. Effective July 1, 2025. Source

Primary sources

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What the statute says for these facts

Four facts. The answer leads with what the statute does at that pay, then names any change already enacted, then quotes the details with their citations.

The person who would sign

Several statutes treat contractors differently.

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