In the UK, there's Unfair Contracts.The US is the same, I would imagine. Here's what https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/non-compete-agreement/ https://www.la

In the UK, there's Unfair Contracts.The US is the same, I would imagine. Here's what https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/non-compete-agreement/ https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/non-compete-agreement/ says: "Employers can create a Non-Compete Agreement for as long as they wish. Having said that, if a Non-Compete Agreement limits a former employee for too long, it’s unlikely that a court will enforce the document. Judges will likely consider a period of six months to a year to be a reasonable amount of time. The time period you choose should reasonably protect your company and make sense in your industry. As a result, there isn’t a standard time period for a Non-Compete Agreement." So, tricky, but anything longer than a year is likely to be deemed unreasonable. There may be exceptions, such as when a business owner sells a business, and the sale contains a non-compete. In that case, a non-compete is likely to hold up. The article goes on: "Courts may not enforce a non-compete clause in the UK if: * The effect could be harmful to the public (if it restricts commerce and depresses the local economy) * The scope is broader than necessary to protect the employer * The restriction would cause undue hardship on the employee (too difficult for the employee to find a new job) * The agreement has unreasonable time or geographic restrictions" In late 2020, the UK gov't sought feedback on "Measures to reform post-termination non-compete clauses in contracts of employment " here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/measures-to-reform-post-termination-non-compete-clauses-in-contracts-of-employment https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/measures-to-refo... The outcome has not yet been published. "The purpose of the consultation is to seek views on: * proposals to make non-compete clauses enforceable only when the employer provides compensation during the term of the clause, and whether this could be complemented by additional transparency measures and statutory limits on the length of non-compete clauses * an alternative proposal to make post-termination, non-compete clauses in contracts of employment unenforceable" This seems to be heading in the right direction. I am against non-competes in general.