Florida Non-Compete Agreement

Yes. Florida Statutes Section 542.335 expressly allows contracts that restrict competition during or after employment, so long as they are reasonable in time, area, and line of business. The employer must put the covenant in a writing signed by the employee and plead and prove a legitimate business interest, such as trade secrets, confidential information, substantial customer relationships, goodwill, or extraordinary training. A covenant supported by such an interest and reasonably tailored is enforceable in Florida, and courts here are notably willing to enforce them.

It depends on the context, and Florida uses rebuttable presumptions. Against a former employee, agent, or contractor, Section 542.335(1)(d) presumes a restraint of 6 months or less reasonable and one of more than 2 years unreasonable. For a covenant tied to the sale of a business, 3 years or less is presumed reasonable and more than 7 years unreasonable. For a covenant protecting trade secrets, 5 years or less is reasonable and more than 10 years unreasonable. Under the 2025 CHOICE Act, a covered high-earner non-compete may run up to 4 years in Florida.

Under Section 542.335 a Florida non-compete must be in a writing signed by the person against whom it is enforced and must be supported by a legitimate business interest. The statute lists trade secrets, valuable confidential business information, substantial relationships with specific customers or clients, customer goodwill tied to a location or marketing area, and extraordinary or specialized training. The employer must also show the restraint is reasonably necessary to protect that interest. A restrictive covenant that is not supported by a legitimate business interest is unlawful, void, and unenforceable in Florida.

Not for the ordinary track. Section 542.335 enforces a reasonable non-compete regardless of how much the employee earns. Florida does have a high-earner track under the CHOICE Act (Section 542.43), effective July 1, 2025: a covered employee is one who earns more than twice the annual mean wage of the Florida county where the employer has its principal place of business, or the county where the employee resides if the employer is based out of state. That is a county-specific formula, not a single statewide dollar figure, and it does not apply to health care practitioners.

Yes. Florida is a mandatory reformation, or blue-pencil, state. Section 542.335(1)(c) directs that if a restraint is overbroad, overlong, or not reasonably necessary, a court shall modify it and grant only the relief reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate business interest, rather than voiding the whole covenant. Florida law also tells courts not to consider the individualized economic hardship to the employee and not to construe the covenant narrowly against the drafter, which makes Florida one of the more enforcement-friendly states in the country.

For high earners, yes. The Florida CHOICE Act (Sections 542.41 through 542.45), effective July 1, 2025, adds a track for covered employees earning more than twice the applicable county annual mean wage. It allows covered non-compete and garden-leave agreements of up to 4 years, requires the employer to advise the employee in writing of the right to seek counsel and provide the agreement at least 7 days before the offer expires, and directs courts to preliminarily enjoin a breaching employee. Employees who do not meet the wage threshold remain governed by Section 542.335.

They pair the non-compete with, or rely on, a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement and the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Chapter 688). Section 542.335(1)(b) itself points to trade secrets as defined in Section 688.002(4) as a legitimate business interest. A confidentiality agreement protects trade secrets and customer data without having to satisfy the reasonableness presumptions that apply to a non-compete, so Florida employers often use both tools together to protect the business.