Allowed above a pay floor

Non-compete law in Oregon

Under ORS 653.295 an employee noncompete is void unless the employer disclosed it in a written offer at least two weeks before the first day (or the employee entered it on a bona fide advancement), the employee is a salaried exempt administrative, executive or professional employee, the employer has a protectable interest (trade secrets or competitively sensitive confidential information), the employer gives a signed copy within 30 days after termination, and annual salary plus commissions at termination exceed an inflation-indexed floor ($119,541 for 2026 per BOLI). The term may not exceed 12 months. An employer may enforce a covenant against a lower-paid or non-exempt employee only by paying 50 percent of pay (or of the floor, if greater) during the restriction. Noncompetes restricting medical licensees are largely void under ORS 653.297 (2025). Noncompetes and employee/customer non-solicitation covenants with home care workers and personal support workers are voidable by the worker and cannot be enforced by an Oregon court (ORS 410.631, 410.632).

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

Employee non-competes
Only within the statute's conditions
Pay floor
$119,541 a year in 2026, adjusted annually
How pay is measured
ORS 653.295(1)(e): total annual gross salary and commissions, calculated annually, at the time of termination must exceed $100,533 adjusted annually by the CPI for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), for the calendar year preceding the termination year. BOLI publishes the adjusted minimum: 2022 $100,533; 2023 $108,581; 2024 $113,241; 2025 $116,427; 2026 $119,541 (rounded to the dollar). The employee must also be salaried-exempt under ORS 653.020(3) (administrative, executive or professional work; predominantly intellectual, managerial or creative tasks; discretion and independent judgment; paid on a salary basis).
Duration
12 months from termination; any excess is void and not enforceable by an Oregon court (ORS 653.295(3)).
Notice
Written employment offer received at least two weeks before the first day of employment stating a noncompete is required, or entry upon a subsequent bona fide advancement (ORS 653.295(1)(a)); employer must provide a signed, written copy of the terms within 30 days after termination (ORS 653.295(1)(d)).
Consideration
Not stated separately; the two-week-notice or bona fide advancement route in ORS 653.295(1)(a) is the statutory condition. Employer must also have a protectable interest (trade secrets, or competitively sensitive confidential information such as product development, launch, marketing or sales plans) (ORS 653.295(1)(c), (2)).
Pay during the restriction
Alternative route (ORS 653.295(7)): even if the employee is not exempt or does not meet the pay floor, a covenant is enforceable for up to 12 months if the employer agrees in writing to pay, for the restriction period, the greater of 50 percent of annual gross base salary and commissions at termination or 50 percent of the inflation-adjusted $100,533 floor.

Exceptions and special rules

  • ORS 653.295(1) and (3) apply only to noncompetes made in the context of an employment relationship or contract (653.295(4)); the statute has no separate sale-of-business provision.
  • Bonus restriction agreements (forfeiture of unpaid profit-sharing/bonus as the only penalty, reasonable limits, substantial management or customer-contact role) are lawful and enforceable (653.295(5)(a), (8)(a)).
  • Covenants not to solicit the employer's employees or to solicit or transact business with its customers are outside subsections (1) and (3) (653.295(5)(b)).
  • On-air broadcasting talent: protectable interest exists if the employer spent at least 10 percent of annual salary on developing or promoting the talent on media it does not own or control and pays at least the greater of 50 percent of base salary and commissions or 50 percent of the adjusted floor during the restriction; the pay-floor paragraph (1)(e) does not apply (653.295(1)(e), (2)(c)).
  • Medical licensees (practice of medicine or nursing). A noncompete restricting the practice of medicine or nursing between a medical licensee and a 'person' (ORS 442.015), a management services organization, or a hospital or hospital-affiliated clinic is void and unenforceable, notwithstanding 653.295(1)-(2). It stays valid under 653.295's terms only if: (A) the licensee owns or controls an interest equal to 1.5 percent or more of the other person; or (B) it is with a professional medical entity that documents its recruitment investment (costs of at least 20 percent of annual salary) and runs no longer than five years from hire (licensee providing direct care in a county designated a health professional shortage area) or three years from hire (otherwise); or (C) the licensee does not directly provide medical, health care or clinical services. Nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements between a medical licensee and an MSO or hospital are void with listed exceptions, and retaliation is barred (ORS 653.297(3), 653.298). Applies to agreements entered before, on or after 2025-06-09. (ORS 653.297, 653.298; 2025 Or. Laws ch. 295 (SB 951) as amended by 2025 Or. Laws ch. 572 (HB 3410))
  • On-air talent in broadcasting. Special protectable-interest and 50 percent pay-during-restriction conditions; the salary floor in 653.295(1)(e) does not apply (see otherExceptions). (ORS 653.295(2)(c))
  • Home care workers and personal support workers (as defined in ORS 410.600). Notwithstanding ORS 653.295, a noncompetition agreement made in the context of an employment relationship or contract with such a worker is voidable by the worker and may not be enforced by a court of this state; the same applies to covenants not to solicit the employer's employees or to solicit or transact business with its customers. Enacted 2017 c.360 (amended 2018 c.75; Beck Reed Riden dates the rule January 1, 2018 - not confirmed from the session law). (ORS 410.631, 410.632 (2025 Edition))

Non-solicitation clauses

Outside the noncompete limits: covenants not to solicit the employer's employees or to solicit or transact business with its customers (ORS 653.295(5)(b)). Nothing in the section restricts protecting trade secrets by injunction or other lawful means (653.295(6)).

Contracts naming another state's law

None found in ORS 653.295 or 653.297.

Remedies

Noncompliant agreements are 'void and unenforceable' (ORS 653.295(1)); no penalty or fee clause in 653.295. ORS 653.298 prohibits adverse action against medical licensees for protected disclosures.

Which agreements it covers

Current 653.295 text (SB 169 (2021), 2021 c. 75) governs noncompetes entered into on or after 2022-01-01 per BOLI; earlier agreements were voidable under prior law. ORS 653.297 (2025) applies to medical-licensee noncompetes entered before, on or after 2025-06-09 (2025 c.295 s.9 as amended by c.572 s.3).

Recent changes

  • 2026-01-01. BOLI-published minimum for terminations in 2026: $119,541 (2025: $116,427). The 2026 inflation percentage is shown as 'TBD' on BOLI's page; no 2027 figure is published yet. Source
  • 2025-06-09. SB 951 (2025 c.295) took effect on passage (ORS note gives June 9, 2025): new ORS 653.297 and 653.298 limiting noncompetes, nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements with medical licensees. As enrolled it required 10 percent ownership and a three-year term; HB 3410 (2025 c.572, emergency clause) changed that to 1.5 percent ownership, five-year/three-year terms tied to recruitment investment and shortage-area practice, and applied the noncompete rules to agreements before, on or after SB 951's effective date. Source
  • 2022-01-01. SB 169 (2021) in effect: agreements failing the conditions are void rather than voidable; maximum term cut from 18 to 12 months; salary floor $100,533 (indexed) introduced. Source

Primary sources

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What the statute says for these facts

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