Allowed if reasonable
Non-compete law in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Stat. § 103.465 makes an employee's or agent's covenant not to compete lawful and enforceable only if the restrictions on territory and time are reasonably necessary to protect the employer; an unreasonable covenant is illegal, void and unenforceable even as to any part that would have been reasonable, so a court is not told to trim it. The statute has no pay threshold, duration cap, notice rule or occupation carve-outs; it was last amended in 2015 and was unchanged in the statutes published 2026-09-04.
Last verified · confidence high. 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 statutory cap; the covenant's territory and time must be reasonably necessary for the employer's protection (§ 103.465).
Exceptions and special rules
- None stated: the section covers covenants 'by an assistant, servant or agent' not to compete with the employer or principal during or after the relationship; sale-of-business covenants are not mentioned in the text
Non-solicitation clauses
The statute speaks only of covenants 'not to compete ... within a specified territory and during a specified time'; it does not mention non-solicitation covenants. The Legislature's annotations on the statute page summarize appellate decisions (including on client-contact restrictions); they were not independently read.
Contracts naming another state's law
None in § 103.465.
Remedies
No remedy provision. An unreasonable covenant is 'illegal, void and unenforceable even as to any part of the covenant or performance that would be a reasonable restraint' (§ 103.465).
Recent changes
- 2026-01-08. 2025 AB 567 (broad restriction on employee noncompetes, amending § 103.465) was in committee (Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment) as of the archived bill page; SECONDARY sources report it and medical-practitioner bills 2025 AB 675 / SB 657 failed to pass by the end of the 2025-26 session. The published 2026-09-04 statute is unchanged, consistent with that. Source
- 2015. Last session-law amendment shown in the section history: 2015 Wis. Act 197 s. 51 (earlier: 1995 a. 225; 1997 a. 253); exact effective date not verified. The statute text read is from the edition 'updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247', published 9-4-26, i.e. no later amendment. Source
Primary sources
- Wis. Stat. § 103.465 Read from an Internet Archive copy of the official page, snapshot 2026-09-29: the official site did not answer when this row was verified.
- 2025 Wisconsin Assembly Bill 567 (bill page) Read from an Internet Archive copy of the official page, snapshot 2026-01-08: the official site did not answer when this row was verified.