Florida Non-Compete Laws (2026): Are Non-Competes Enforceable?

Yes, when the agreement meets Florida's statute. Under Fla. Stat. 542.335, a court enforces a non-compete that is in writing, protects a legitimate business interest and is reasonable in time, area and line of business. Since July 1, 2025, the Florida CHOICE Act (Fla. Stat. 542.41-542.45) also makes qualifying non-competes for high earners "fully enforceable according to its terms" for up to 4 years.

So there are two tracks. Most agreements are judged under section 542.335. A worker paid more than twice the annual mean wage of the relevant county who signs an agreement built to the CHOICE Act's rules falls under section 542.45 instead. For how other states compare, see our non-compete laws by state guide.

Information last verified on October 6, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Florida law on employee non-compete agreements: Fla. Stat. 542.335 (restrictive covenants generally), the Florida CHOICE Act, Fla. Stat. 542.41-542.45 (covered noncompete and garden leave agreements), and Fla. Stat. 542.336 (physicians), with a short note on the federal FTC rule. It does not cover trade-secret statutes, severance pay or wrongful-termination claims; see our Florida trade secret laws and Florida severance pay laws pages.

Two tracks: section 542.335 and the CHOICE Act

Section 542.335 is the general rule, and it governs every restrictive covenant that does not meet the CHOICE Act's definitions. Its starting point is permissive: enforcement of contracts that restrict competition, "so long as such contracts are reasonable in time, area, and line of business, is not prohibited."

The CHOICE Act, created by CS/CS/CS/HB 1219 (Chapter 2025-213, Laws of Florida), took effect July 1, 2025. It sits in a new Part II of chapter 542 and did not amend section 542.335. The closing sentence of section 542.45 sends restrictive covenants that do not meet the covered definitions back to section 542.335.

The general rule under section 542.335

A Florida court will not enforce a restrictive covenant unless it is set out in a writing signed by the person against whom enforcement is sought (Fla. Stat. 542.335(1)(a)). The employer must plead and prove a legitimate business interest and that the restraint is reasonably necessary to protect it.

The statute's legitimate business interests include:

• Trade secrets
• Valuable confidential business or professional information that does not qualify as a trade secret
• Substantial relationships with specific prospective or existing customers, patients or clients
• Customer, patient or client goodwill
• Extraordinary or specialized training

A covenant that is not supported by a legitimate business interest is "unlawful and is void and unenforceable."

How long is reasonable

Section 542.335 sets rebuttable presumptions for post-employment covenants against a former employee, agent or independent contractor that are not based on trade secrets: 6 months or less is presumed reasonable, and more than 2 years is presumed unreasonable. Other settings get different presumptions:

A presumption can be rebutted, so these are starting points for the court, not hard limits.

Rules that favor enforcement

The statute tells courts how to read these agreements. A court shall not consider individualized hardship that enforcement might cause the employee (542.335(1)(g)1), and it shall not construe a covenant narrowly or against the drafter (542.335(1)(h)).

The statute also limits enforcement. A successor or assignee of the employer, such as a company that bought the business, may enforce the covenant only if the covenant expressly authorizes enforcement by an assignee or successor (542.335(1)(f)2), and the court must consider all other pertinent legal and equitable defenses and the effect of enforcement on public health, safety and welfare (542.335(1)(g)3-4).

A violation of an enforceable covenant creates a presumption of irreparable injury to the employer (542.335(1)(j)), which makes an injunction easier to obtain. The same subsection requires the employer to post an injunction bond, and a contract clause waiving the bond is unenforceable.

The Florida CHOICE Act for high earners

The CHOICE Act creates "covered noncompete agreements" and "covered garden leave agreements." Section 542.45 says a covered noncompete agreement "does not violate public policy as a restraint of trade" and "is fully enforceable according to its terms."

Who is a covered employee

A covered employee earns, or is reasonably expected to earn, a salary greater than twice the annual mean wage of the Florida county where the employer has its principal place of business. If the employer's principal place of business is outside Florida, the comparison is the county where the employee lives. The annual mean wage is the most recent figure calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The statute does not print a dollar threshold, and because the figure depends on the county and on each new BLS release, this page does not state one. "Salary" means annualized base pay, including the fair market value of non-cash benefits. It excludes health benefits, severance, retirement benefits, expense reimbursement, discretionary incentive pay, tips, bonuses and commissions.

The act expressly excludes anyone classified as a health care practitioner under Fla. Stat. 456.001. Those workers stay on the section 542.335 track.

What a covered agreement requires

A non-compete is a covered noncompete agreement only if it meets the act's requirements:

• 7-day review period. The employer must give the proposed agreement to a prospective employee at least 7 days before the job offer expires, or to a current employee at least 7 days before the offer to enter the agreement expires (Fla. Stat. 542.45(3)).
• Right to counsel. The employee must be advised in writing of the right to seek counsel before signing.
• Acknowledgment. The employee must acknowledge in writing that he or she will receive confidential information or customer relationships.
• Length and area. The restriction may run "for a period not to exceed 4 years" within the geographic area the agreement defines.
• Garden-leave offset. The non-compete period must be reduced day for day by any non-working portion of a garden-leave notice period.

What a court must do

On the employer's application, a court must preliminarily enjoin a covered employee "from providing services to any business, entity, or individual other than the covered employer during the noncompete period." The injunction can reach a new employer as well. The court may modify or dissolve it only on clear and convincing nonconfidential evidence of grounds the statute lists.

Covered garden leave agreements

The act also creates a covered garden leave agreement (Fla. Stat. 542.44). The employer and employee agree to up to 4 years of advance notice before the relationship ends; the employee agrees not to resign before the notice period ends, and the employer agrees to keep the employee on and keep paying the same salary and benefits (but not discretionary incentive pay) through the notice period (Fla. Stat. 542.43(5)). After the first 90 days, the employee does not have to provide services. The employer may shorten the notice period with 30 days' written notice, and the same 7-day delivery and right-to-counsel rules apply.

Doctors and health care practitioners

Fla. Stat. 542.336 treats physician covenants differently in one situation. When one entity employs or contracts with all physicians who practice a particular specialty in a county, a restrictive covenant against a physician in that specialty "is not supported by a legitimate business interest" and is void. It stays void and unenforceable for 3 years after a second entity begins offering that specialty in the county.

Outside that situation, physicians and other health care practitioners are judged under section 542.335. They cannot be covered employees under the CHOICE Act.

Fired, laid off or quit

Neither section 542.335 nor section 542.45 distinguishes in its text between an employee who quits and one who is fired or laid off. Section 542.45(5)(e) adds that if a covered employee engages in gross misconduct against the employer, the employer may reduce any salary or benefits it provides, or take other appropriate action, during the noncompete period without breaching the agreement.

This page did not research Florida case law on non-competes after a termination without cause, so it states no rule on that question. If you were let go and are bound by a non-compete, raise it with a Florida employment lawyer. For the background rule on firing, see our Florida at-will employment laws page.

What happens to an overbroad non-compete

Florida does not throw out an overbroad covenant. Section 542.335(1)(c) says that if a restraint is overbroad, overlong or otherwise not reasonably necessary, "a court shall modify the restraint and grant only the relief reasonably necessary to protect such interest or interests." A court can shorten the time or shrink the area rather than void the whole clause.

A covenant with no legitimate business interest behind it is different: it is void and unenforceable.

Out-of-state choice-of-law clauses

The CHOICE Act applies to a covered employee whose primary place of work is in Florida "regardless of any applicable choice of law provisions." It also applies when the employer's principal place of business is in Florida and the agreement says Florida law governs. A contract clause choosing another state's law does not take a Florida-based covered employee outside the act.

Lawsuits, damages and attorney fees

Under the CHOICE Act, a prevailing employer recovers all available monetary damages (542.45(5)(c)), and in any action to enforce the section, the prevailing party is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs (542.45(5)(d)). That fee rule runs both ways.

On the general track, if the contract has no fee clause, a court may award fees and costs to the prevailing party in an action to enforce or challenge a restrictive covenant (542.335(1)(k)).

Non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements

Section 542.335 covers "contracts that restrict or prohibit competition," and its list of legitimate business interests includes customer relationships and confidential information, the interests non-solicitation clauses and NDAs usually protect. The statute text does not name non-solicits expressly.

The CHOICE Act's legislative findings (Fla. Stat. 542.42) describe nondisclosure agreements and nonsolicitation clauses as inadequate alternatives to non-competes, and section 542.45(4) says the section does not limit the enforceability of any other employment agreement. Trade secrets themselves are protected by separate law; see our Florida trade secret laws page.

Recent changes and what to watch

• CHOICE Act enacted. CS/CS/CS/HB 1219 passed the House 91-21 on April 23, 2025 and the Senate 28-9 on April 24, 2025. It was allowed to become law without the Governor's signature on July 3, 2025, as Chapter 2025-213, effective July 1, 2025.
• Older agreements. The act's text has no express clause about agreements signed before July 1, 2025. This page does not resolve whether an older agreement can qualify as a covered agreement.
• No 2026 amendment shown. Florida's 2026 compiled statutes show no amendment to section 542.45 or section 542.335 after 2025.

The federal FTC rule did not change Florida law

The FTC's Non-Compete Rule would have barred new non-competes with workers starting September 4, 2024, but a federal court in Texas set it aside on August 20, 2024 in Ryan LLC v. FTC. The FTC voted on September 5, 2025 to dismiss its appeals and removed the rule from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026. The FTC still acts case by case: it finalized an order against Gateway Services in November 2025 and approved a final consent order against Rollins on June 22, 2026. See our news coverage of the FTC non-compete ban being struck down.

Before you sign or after you leave

Because Florida courts enforce non-competes and, under the CHOICE Act, must issue a preliminary injunction, the time to understand an agreement is before signing it. Note whether it calls itself a covered noncompete agreement, whether you received it at least 7 days before the offer expired, and how long and how wide the restriction runs. A Florida employment lawyer can review a specific agreement; our state-by-state non-compete guide covers the general questions to ask.

Related

• Non-compete laws by state
• Florida trade secret laws
• Florida severance pay laws
• Florida at-will employment laws
• FTC non-compete ban struck down in Ryan v. FTC

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Florida non-compete law (Fla. Stat. 542.335, 542.336 and 542.41-542.45), not legal advice. The information was verified on October 6, 2026. For advice about a specific agreement, contact a legal aid office or a lawyer licensed in Florida.

Last updated: October 6, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are non-compete agreements enforceable in Florida?

Yes, when they meet the statute. Fla. Stat. 542.335 enforces a non-compete that is in a writing signed by the employee, protects a legitimate business interest and is reasonable in time, area and line of business; high earners can also be bound under the CHOICE Act, Fla. Stat. 542.45.

How long can a non-compete last in Florida?

On the general track, 6 months or less is presumed reasonable and more than 2 years is presumed unreasonable for a former employee, unless the covenant rests on trade secrets (Fla. Stat. 542.335(1)(d)). A CHOICE Act agreement for a covered high earner may run up to 4 years (Fla. Stat. 542.45).

What salary makes someone a covered employee under the Florida CHOICE Act?

A salary greater than twice the annual mean wage of the county where the employer has its principal place of business, or of the county where the employee lives if the employer's principal place of business is outside Florida. The statute does not state a dollar figure, and health care practitioners are excluded.

Does the CHOICE Act apply to non-competes signed before July 1, 2025?

The act took effect July 1, 2025, and its text has no express clause on agreements signed before that date. This page does not resolve that question; a Florida employment lawyer can review how it applies to an older agreement.

Can a Florida court rewrite an overbroad non-compete?

Yes. Fla. Stat. 542.335(1)(c) says 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 employer's legitimate business interest.

Are doctors' non-competes banned in Florida?

Not in general. Fla. Stat. 542.336 voids a physician's non-compete only where one entity employs or contracts with all physicians practicing that specialty in the county, and the covenant stays void for 3 years after a second entity begins offering the specialty there.

Who pays attorney fees in a Florida non-compete lawsuit?

In an action to enforce the CHOICE Act section, the prevailing party is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs (Fla. Stat. 542.45(5)(d)). Under Fla. Stat. 542.335(1)(k), if the contract does not address fees, a court may award them to the prevailing party.

Did the FTC ban non-competes in Florida?

No. A federal court in Texas set aside the FTC's Non-Compete Rule on August 20, 2024, before it took effect, and the FTC removed the rule from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026.