Void for employees

Non-compete law in Oklahoma

15 O.S. 217 voids contracts restraining a lawful profession, trade or business except as 218 (sale of goodwill) and 219 (partners on dissolution) allow. Section 219A lets a former employee who agreed not to compete work in the same or a similar business so long as the employee does not directly solicit sales from the former employer's established customers; any conflicting contract provision is void. Section 219B says employee non-solicitation covenants are not restraints on a lawful profession.

Last verified · confidence medium. Clauseworthy is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Employee non-competes
Void by statute
Pay floor
None in the statute

Exceptions and special rules

  • Sale of a business: the statute allows a non-compete given by a seller.
  • Seller of goodwill may agree with the buyer to refrain from a similar business within a specified county and its contiguous counties, or a specified city or town or part of it, while the buyer carries on a like business there; an otherwise lawful agreement exceeding those limits may be deemed valid only within the county of the primary place of business and contiguous counties (15 O.S. 218)
  • Partners, upon or in anticipation of dissolution of the partnership, may agree not to carry on a similar business in a specified county and contiguous counties, or a specified city or town or part of it, with the same overbreadth rule (15 O.S. 219)
  • An agreement not to directly solicit sales from the former employer's established customers is the line 219A draws: the former employee may otherwise compete (15 O.S. 219A(A))

Non-solicitation clauses

Employee/contractor non-solicitation: a contract prohibiting soliciting the employer's employees or independent contractors to work elsewhere is not a restraint from a lawful profession, and 217-219A do not apply to it (15 O.S. 219B, 2013). Customer non-solicitation: 219A(A) conditions the former employee's freedom to compete on not directly soliciting the employer's 'established customers'.

Contracts naming another state's law

None found in Title 15 sections 217-219B.

Remedies

Provisions in conflict with 219A are 'void and unenforceable' (219A(B)); no penalty or fee-shifting in these sections.

Which agreements it covers

219A added 2001 (Laws 2001, c. 406, s. 4, emergency eff. 2001-06-04); 219B eff. 2013-11-01 (Laws 2013, c. 194). No later amendment shown in the compiled history.

Recent changes

  • 2025-12-31. Official compiled Title 15 (HTTP last-modified 2025-12-31) shows no amendment to 217-219B after 2013 (217 last amended 2001). 2026-session changes not confirmed. Source
  • 2013-11-01. 15 O.S. 219B added (Laws 2013, c. 194, s. 1): employee non-solicitation covenants excluded from the restraint-of-trade sections. Source

Primary sources

Checker

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.

Other states on file