Utah Non-Compete Agreement
Utah enforces employee non-competes but caps them at one year under the Post-Employment Restrictions Act. No wage threshold. Attorney review available.
Introduction
Utah puts a hard number on how long a non-compete can bind a departing worker, which is what sets it apart from most states. The Post-Employment Restrictions Act (Utah Code Title 34, Chapter 51) caps an employee non-compete at one year from the last day of employment for any covenant entered into on or after May 10, 2016, and Section 34-51-201(1)(c) makes a longer restraint void outright rather than merely trimming it back to a year. The instrument itself is familiar: a non-compete is a contract in which one party, usually an employee, promises not to compete with a business for a fixed time and area once the working relationship ends. That promise is enforceable in Utah, but the one-year statutory ceiling rides on top of Utah common-law reasonableness, so courts here also look for consideration, a legitimate protectable interest such as trade secrets or customer goodwill, and geography and restricted activities no broader than the interest requires. Earnings play no part: the 2026 House Bill 203, which would have added a $155,000 salary floor, failed, so pay level does not decide whether a covenant applies. Two occupations lose the tool entirely, because on or after May 6, 2026 a healthcare non-compete and a veterinarian non-compete (unless the veterinarian owns at least 5 percent of the business) are void, while broadcasting employees answer to their own narrow test. Overreach carries a price under Section 34-51-301, which lets a court order an employer that tries to enforce an invalid covenant to pay the worker's attorney fees, court costs, and actual damages. This page walks through the Post-Employment Restrictions Act and offers a template scoped to its limits. It is a state-law overview, not a guarantee that a particular clause will survive.
Key Things to Know
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Utah belongs to a small group of states that fixes a hard ceiling on non-compete length. Under the Post-Employment Restrictions Act (Utah Code Title 34, Chapter 51), a non-compete entered into on or after May 10, 2016 may not run more than one year from the last day of employment (Section 34-51-201(1)(a)).
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The one-year limit has teeth. Section 34-51-201(1)(c) makes a covenant that exceeds it void, not simply cut back to a year. Utah courts may reform an otherwise overbroad restraint, but they cannot rescue a term that breaks the statutory cap.
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Pay does not decide enforceability in Utah. There is no salary or income threshold, and the 2026 House Bill 203, which sought a $155,000 annual-earnings floor, did not pass, so a non-compete can apply no matter what the employee earns. Do not borrow another state's wage figure.
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The statutory cap stacks on top of common-law reasonableness. Courts in Utah generally still look for consideration, a legitimate protectable interest such as trade secrets or customer goodwill, and a geographic and activity scope no wider than that interest needs.
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The Act sets no advance-notice window before signing, yet Utah common law still demands consideration. Courts here may question whether continued at-will employment alone gives the worker enough value to support the restraint.
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Certain jobs are off-limits. On or after May 6, 2026 a healthcare non-compete and a veterinarian non-compete (unless the veterinarian owns at least 5 percent of the business) are void, and broadcasting employees answer to a separate narrow test (Section 34-51-201(1)(b), (2), (3)).
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When a non-compete is capped, carved out, or simply unwanted, Utah employers guard confidential information with a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement and the Utah Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Utah Code Title 13, Chapter 24), which the Act deliberately leaves untouched.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Non-Compete Agreement in Utah, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Non-Compete Agreement guide walks through them.
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Utah Requirements for Non-Compete Agreement
In Utah an employee non-compete is enforceable but limited. For a non-compete entered into on or after May 10, 2016, Section 34-51-201(1)(a) bars a restricted period of more than one year from the last day of employment, and Section 34-51-201(1)(c) makes a longer covenant void. Draft the term at one year or less.
Utah has no salary or income threshold that governs non-compete enforceability. A 2026 bill (House Bill 203) proposed a $155,000 annual-earnings floor but did not pass, so a non-compete can apply regardless of pay, subject to the one-year cap and common-law reasonableness. Do not rely on another state's wage figure when the worker is in Utah.
The one-year cap is in addition to common-law reasonableness. Courts in Utah generally require that the covenant be supported by consideration, protect a legitimate business interest such as trade secrets or customer goodwill, and be no broader than necessary in geography and restricted activity. An overbroad clause risks being narrowed or struck.
Utah's Act sets no statutory advance-notice window before signing, but under Utah common law a non-compete must be supported by consideration. Courts in Utah generally examine whether the employee received something of value, such as new employment, a promotion, a bonus, or specialized training, and may scrutinize whether continued at-will employment alone is enough.
On or after May 6, 2026, Section 34-51-201(1)(b) makes a healthcare non-compete with a licensed healthcare worker void, and Section 34-51-201(3) makes a veterinarian non-compete void unless the veterinarian holds at least a 5 percent ownership interest. A veterinarian covenant requiring out-of-state dispute resolution is void and against Utah public policy.
Utah applies a separate narrow rule to broadcasting employees. Under Section 34-51-201(2), a non-compete between a broadcasting company and a broadcasting employee is valid only if the employee is exempt, the covenant is part of a written contract of reasonable duration, and the company terminates for cause or the employee breaches, and it runs no longer than one year or the end of the contract term.
Utah discourages overreaching covenants with fee-shifting. Under Section 34-51-301, if an employer seeks to enforce a non-compete, nondisclosure clause, or nonsolicitation agreement and it is determined unenforceable, the employer is liable for the employee's arbitration costs, attorney fees and court costs, and actual damages. Keep any covenant within the one-year cap and reasonable in scope.
Where a non-compete is capped, carved out, or unwanted, Utah employers protect confidential information with a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement and the Utah Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Utah Code Title 13, Chapter 24). The Post-Employment Restrictions Act expressly excludes nondisclosure and nonsolicitation agreements from the non-compete definition, so those tools remain fully available in Utah.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, though Utah limits them tightly. The Post-Employment Restrictions Act (Utah Code Title 34, Chapter 51) lets an employer enforce an employee non-compete, but a covenant entered into on or after May 10, 2016 cannot exceed one year after employment ends, and Section 34-51-201(1)(c) voids a longer one. On top of that ceiling, Utah courts expect consideration, a legitimate protectable interest, and a reasonable geographic and activity scope. Meet all of those and the clause stands in Utah.
One year, no more. Section 34-51-201(1)(a) bars an employer and employee who signed on or after May 10, 2016 from agreeing to a post-employment restriction longer than one year from the last day of work, and Section 34-51-201(1)(c) makes anything longer void outright. Even inside that one-year window, an unreasonably wide geography or list of restricted activities can keep a Utah court from enforcing the clause.
No. The Post-Employment Restrictions Act ties enforceability to duration and occupation, not to earnings, so Utah has no salary floor for non-competes. House Bill 203 tried to add a $155,000 annual-earnings threshold in 2026 but failed, which means a covenant can apply at any pay level, subject to the one-year cap and common-law reasonableness. A wage figure from another state does not carry over to a Utah worker.
Reasonableness in Utah runs beyond the one-year cap. Courts here generally require consideration, a genuine protectable interest such as trade secrets, confidential information, or customer goodwill, and limits on geography and restricted activity that go no further than that interest. A clause that bars work the employee never performed, or covers a region where the employer does no business, invites a Utah court to narrow or strike it.
As a rule, no, once the 2026 changes take hold. On or after May 6, 2026, Section 34-51-201(1)(b) voids a healthcare non-compete with a licensed healthcare worker, and Section 34-51-201(3) voids a veterinarian non-compete unless the veterinarian holds at least a 5 percent ownership interest in the business. Employers in these fields turn to a nondisclosure agreement to protect information instead of a covenant Utah will not enforce.
Sometimes, but only so far. Utah courts have generally been willing to reform or trim an overbroad restrictive covenant under a reasonableness analysis rather than discard it whole. That discretion stops at the statute: a term that runs past the one-year cap is void under Section 34-51-201(1)(c) and cannot be rewritten to survive. Because reformation is never guaranteed, a Utah employer is safer drafting within the limits from the outset.
Utah makes overreach expensive. Section 34-51-301 provides that if an employer tries to enforce a non-compete, nondisclosure clause, or nonsolicitation agreement through arbitration or a civil action and it is found unenforceable, the employer must cover the employee's arbitration costs, attorney fees and court costs, and actual damages. That fee-shifting rule pushes Utah employers to keep any covenant inside the one-year cap and reasonable in scope.
No. The Federal Trade Commission's 2024 rule would have banned most non-competes across the country, but a federal court set it aside before its effective date, so it never took force and its future stays unsettled. Whatever happens to the federal rule, enforceability in Utah still turns on the Post-Employment Restrictions Act, which keeps the one-year cap and the reasonableness requirements in place.