In the final month of 2017 we discussed efforts by the Massachusetts and New Jersey legislatures to limit the use of employment non-compete agreements. By the start of 2018, the spike in activity had become a trend, with Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Vermont introducing non-compete legislation of their own.

In an article posted on our website, Daniel Schwartz (Portsmouth), Martha Van Oot (Portsmouth), Erik Winton (Boston), and Colin Thakkar (Jacksonville) analyze the New Hampshire bill, which bars non-compete agreements for low-wage employees, as well as the Pennsylvania and Vermont bills, which bar non-competes altogether in ordinary employment relationships. Given the rarity of enforcement actions against low-wage employees, New Hampshire should not encounter significant pushback in its legislative efforts.  On the other hand, we suspect that the Pennsylvania and Vermont legislatures will have a much more difficult time in their efforts to join California, North Dakota and Oklahoma as the only states in the country to have implemented broad non-compete bans.

We will continue to provide updates as the non-compete bills move through the legislative process.