Allowed if reasonable

Non-compete law in West Virginia

This review found no general West Virginia noncompete statute; for most workers enforceability is judge-made reasonableness law. The Physicians Freedom of Practice Act (W. Va. Code art. 47-11E) caps a physician's covenant at one year and thirty road miles from the primary place of practice and voids it if the employer terminates the physician, with exemptions for a physician who sold a practice or who is an owner/partner/member/director of a health care practice. It applies to contracts entered, modified, renewed or extended on or after July 1, 2017.

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

Employee non-competes
Not banned; conditions apply
Pay floor
None in the statute
Duration
No general statutory cap. Physicians: not more than one year (§ 47-11E-2(a)(1)).

Exceptions and special rules

  • Physician statute does not apply, unless the contract provides otherwise, where the physician sold his or her business or practice (assets, stock, membership interests or otherwise) to the employer, or to contracts among physicians who are shareholders, owners, partners, members or directors of a health care practice (§ 47-11E-4)
  • Unless the contract says otherwise, the physician statute does not limit: bans on taking employer property, patient lists or records; repayment of loans, relocation, signing bonuses, inducement pay and recruiting/education/training costs; nondisclosure of confidential information and trade secrets; non-solicitation of the employer's patients and employees; liquidated damages (§ 47-11E-3)
  • Physician (allopathic or osteopathic doctor fully licensed under W. Va. Code ch. 30, art. 3 or 14). A covenant not to compete in a contract between a physician and an employer is limited to not more than one year and thirty road miles from the physician's primary place of practice with the employer, and is void and unenforceable upon termination of the physician's employment by the employer. 'Covenant not to compete' means a contract restricting the right to practice medicine in any geographic area of the state for any period after the contract expires or the employer terminates it. Applies to contracts entered into, modified, renewed or extended on or after 2017-07-01; contracts in effect on or before 2017-06-30 are not affected. (W. Va. Code §§ 47-11E-1, -2, -5)

Non-solicitation clauses

No general statute. For physicians, non-solicitation of the employer's patients and employees is expressly left enforceable unless the contract states otherwise (§ 47-11E-3(4)).

Contracts naming another state's law

No statutory choice-of-law or forum rule found in art. 47-11E.

Remedies

Art. 47-11E states no damages or fee remedy; the consequence is that an over-limit physician covenant is void and unenforceable as to the restriction.

Which agreements it covers

Physician statute: contracts entered into, modified, renewed or extended on or after 2017-07-01 (§ 47-11E-5). >= 2017-07-01 (physician statute)

Recent changes

  • 2017-07-01. Physicians Freedom of Practice Act (art. 47-11E) in its current form took effect (2017 SB 402; earlier version 1985 HB 1575); official code pages list no later bill as of the 2026-10-02 archive copy. 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