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

Non-competes can be enforced in Kentucky if they are reasonable and supported by consideration. Kentucky has no statute on employee non-competes, so the rules come from court decisions. The Kentucky Court of Appeals in Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service, Inc., 567 S.W.2d 313 (Ky. App. 1978), citing Ceresia v. Mitchell (Ky. 1951), described a reasonable restraint as one that gives the employer fair protection without interfering with the public interest or imposing undue hardship on the employee.

The Kentucky Supreme Court added a key limit in Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown, 433 S.W.3d 345 (Ky. 2014): a non-compete signed mid-job by an at-will employee who received nothing new in return was not enforceable. For how other states compare, see our non-compete laws by state guide.

Information last verified on 2026-10-08. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Kentucky common law on employee covenants not to compete (Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown, 2014, and Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service, 1978) and recent Kentucky bills, with a short note on the federal FTC rule. It does not cover trade-secret claims (see Kentucky trade secret laws) or severance agreements (see Kentucky severance pay laws).

Are non-competes enforceable in Kentucky?

They can be. With no statute on point, a Kentucky court asks two separate questions: is the restraint reasonable, and did the employee get something of value for agreeing to it.

On reasonableness, Hammons, citing Ceresia v. Mitchell, 242 S.W.2d 359 (Ky. 1951), put it this way:

"an agreement in restraint of trade is reasonable if, on consideration of the subject, nature of the business, situation of the parties and circumstances of the particular case, the restriction is such only as to afford fair protection to the interests of the covenantee and is not so large as to interfere with the public interests or impose undue hardship on the party restricted" Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service, Inc., 567 S.W.2d 313 (Ky. App. 1978)

Applying that test, the Court of Appeals upheld a covenant barring an insurance-adjusting employee from competing for one year within 200 miles. That outcome turned on its facts; it is an example of the analysis, not a limit for every agreement.

Our research found no Kentucky statute setting a salary threshold, a maximum length, a maximum territory, an advance-notice rule, a right to consult a lawyer, or garden-leave pay for non-competes.

Consideration: signing a non-compete after you start

Creech is the leading Kentucky Supreme Court decision on this point. The employee had worked for the company at will for sixteen years when he signed a stand-alone agreement containing a non-compete. The court found that nothing changed for him afterward:

"After Brown signed the Agreement his employment relationship with Creech did not change. He remained an at-will employee with no promotion, no increase in wages, and no specialized training. In short, Brown received no consideration from Creech in exchange for signing the Agreement or after he signed the Agreement. Therefore, the Agreement is not enforceable." Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown, 433 S.W.3d 345 (Ky. 2014)

The court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated summary judgment for the employee. Creech distinguished earlier cases in which the employee received something new. As Creech describes it, in Higdon Food Service, Inc. v. Walker, 641 S.W.2d 750 (Ky. 1982), continued employment under a contract that was "the same as a new employment" and protected the employee from discharge except in good faith was consideration for the non-compete.

Creech decided the case on consideration alone and said it need not address the remaining issues. The six-factor reasonableness test the Court of Appeals had used in that case is not Kentucky Supreme Court law.

What a Kentucky court does with an overbroad non-compete

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has allowed courts to trim an overbroad covenant. In Hammons, it quoted a contracts treatise (Williston):

"Where the covenant as originally drawn has been found too broad, courts have had no difficulty in restricting it to its proper sphere and enforcing it only to that extent." Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service, Inc., 567 S.W.2d 313 (Ky. App. 1978)

Hammons relied on Ceresia v. Mitchell, 242 S.W.2d 359 (Ky. 1951), a decision of Kentucky's highest court at the time, which approved a trial court's narrowing of an overbroad covenant (one made in the sale of a business) and enforced it as narrowed. Our research found no later Kentucky Supreme Court decision revisiting the question; in Creech, a justice concurring in the result referred to a "blue pencil rule," but the majority did not reach it.

Fired or quit

No Kentucky statute treats a non-compete differently when the employer fires the worker, but how the job ended can matter in court. In Crowell v. Woodruff, 245 S.W.2d 447 (Ky. 1951), the court refused to enforce a one-year covenant by injunction because, as the court put it, "having exacted the harsh covenant, he discharged his employee within a brief time" (about four and a half months after it was signed). In Higdon, by contrast, the employee quit to earn more elsewhere, and the covenant was enforced. And in Hammons, the employer had discharged the adjuster, yet the Court of Appeals affirmed an injunction enforcing his one-year covenant after he opened a competing claims service and solicited the employer's clients. These rulings turned on their facts; they do not make every covenant void after a firing. For Kentucky's general rule on ending employment, see Kentucky at-will employment laws.

Doctors and other professions

Kentucky has no profession-specific non-compete statute in our research. A 2024 bill on health service providers, SB 324, was sent to the Senate Health Services committee on February 29, 2024, with no later action shown. The 2025 and 2026 session indexes for health care professionals, physicians, nurses and hospitals showed no covenant bill.

Non-solicits and NDAs

No Kentucky statute governs customer non-solicits, no-poach clauses or confidentiality agreements in our research. The agreement in Creech also had a confidentiality portion, but the court did not reach it.

Penalties and who enforces

No state agency enforces non-compete rules in Kentucky; disputes are decided in court. Our research found no Kentucky law giving employees damages or penalties against an employer that tries to enforce a non-compete. The failed bills below would have created those remedies.

Bills that would have banned non-competes

Kentucky lawmakers introduced non-compete bans in 2025 and 2026. None became law.

Bills prefiled for the 2027 session were not checked.

The FTC rule and Kentucky non-competes

The FTC's nationwide non-compete ban never took effect. A federal court in Texas set it aside on August 20, 2024 (Ryan, LLC v. FTC, No. 3:24-CV-00986-E, N.D. Tex.), and after the FTC voted on September 5, 2025 to dismiss its appeals, the rule was removed from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026. The agency still brings case-by-case actions, including a final order approved June 22, 2026 requiring a pest-control company to stop enforcing non-competes. See FTC non-compete ban struck down.

What this page does not answer

Our research did not verify Kentucky rules on these points, so this page states none:

• whether the current Kentucky Supreme Court has revisited the rule on rewriting overbroad covenants;
• whether a Kentucky court will honor an out-of-state choice-of-law or forum clause.

If you have been asked to sign

In Kentucky, two questions matter: whether the restriction is no broader than needed to protect the employer fairly, and what you received for signing, especially if you are already on the job. A lawyer licensed in Kentucky can review a specific agreement.

Related

• Non-compete laws by state
• Kentucky trade secret laws
• Kentucky severance pay laws
• Kentucky at-will employment laws

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Kentucky non-compete law under Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown (2014), Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service (1978) and related decisions, not legal advice. The information was last verified on 2026-10-08. Kentucky non-compete disputes are decided by the courts; for advice about a specific agreement, contact a legal aid office or a lawyer licensed in Kentucky.

Last updated: 2026-10-08.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are non-competes enforceable in Kentucky?

They can be. Kentucky has no non-compete statute, and courts enforce a covenant that gives the employer only fair protection without interfering with the public interest or imposing undue hardship on the employee (Hammons v. Big Sandy Claims Service, 567 S.W.2d 313 (Ky. App. 1978)), provided it is supported by consideration.

Is continued employment enough consideration for a Kentucky non-compete?

Not on the facts of Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown, 433 S.W.3d 345 (Ky. 2014): an at-will employee who signed mid-employment and got no promotion, raise or specialized training received no consideration, so the agreement was not enforceable.

How long can a non-compete last in Kentucky?

No Kentucky statute caps it; courts judge reasonableness case by case. In Hammons (Ky. App. 1978), the Court of Appeals upheld a one-year, 200-mile covenant for an insurance-adjusting employee.

Will a Kentucky court rewrite an overbroad non-compete?

They can. The Kentucky Court of Appeals said in Hammons (1978) that courts may restrict a covenant that is too broad to its proper sphere and enforce it only to that extent, a rule it noted had been applied in Ceresia v. Mitchell (Ky. 1951), where Kentucky's then-highest court approved narrowing an overbroad sale-of-business covenant.

Did Kentucky pass a non-compete ban?

No. SB 234 and HB 690 (2025) and HB 813 (2026) would have restricted non-competes, but none was enacted; HB 813 shows no action after its March 9, 2026 committee referral.

Are physician non-competes banned in Kentucky?

No Kentucky statute restricts them. A 2024 bill, SB 324, was sent to the Senate Health Services committee on February 29, 2024 with no later action shown.

Does the FTC non-compete ban apply in Kentucky?

No. A federal court set the rule aside on August 20, 2024, and the FTC removed it from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026.