{"id":138,"date":"2018-08-22T15:05:58","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T15:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/?p=138"},"modified":"2021-06-10T19:06:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T19:06:52","slug":"are-non-competes-enforceable-in-massachusetts-finally-some-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/employment-blog\/2018\/08\/22\/are-non-competes-enforceable-in-massachusetts-finally-some-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Non-Competes Enforceable in Massachusetts?  Finally, Some Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For years, when asked by clients whether non-competition agreements are enforceable in Massachusetts, lawyers have had to say \u201cit depends.\u201d\u00a0 Well, it still does \u2013 but not as much.\u00a0 On August 10, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Baker signed a law that will take effect on October 1, 2018 and which will finally provide some clear guidance.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a brief summary of some of what you need to know:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Non-competes are not enforceable against\n<ul>\n<li>non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act;<\/li>\n<li>undergraduates and graduate students working as interns or not full-time;<\/li>\n<li>employees terminated without cause or laid off; or<\/li>\n<li>anyone 18 or younger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The law does not cover all restrictive covenants, just non-competes;<\/li>\n<li>The law covers both employees and independent contractors (referred to collectively here as employees);<\/li>\n<li>As a general rule, non-competes are limited to twelve months;<\/li>\n<li>To be enforceable,\n<ul>\n<li>non-competes have to signed by both parties,<\/li>\n<li>the employee must be advised of the right to consult counsel prior to signing,<\/li>\n<li>the non-compete has to be presented to the employee at the time of the formal offer or ten days before the employment begins, whichever is earlier;<\/li>\n<li>if entered into after the employment has begun, all the same requirements apply (including ten days\u2019 notice), but there must be additional fair and reasonable consideration \u2013 on-going employment is no longer enough even for an at will employee;<\/li>\n<li>the non-compete must be no broader than necessary to protect the employer\u2019s trade secrets, confidential information and\/or good will, and it must be reasonable in geographic scope and the scope of prohibited activities; provided, however, that it will be presumptively reasonable if it is limited to only the specific types of services provided by the employee during the last two years of employment;<\/li>\n<li>the non-compete must be consistent with public policy; and<\/li>\n<li>the non-compete must include \u201cgarden leave\u201d (payment of no less than 50% of annualized compensation, pro rata for the period of the restriction) or other mutually agreed upon consideration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As with all legal matters, if you have questions or concerns, consult legal counsel.\u00a0 We would be happy to assist you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, when asked by clients whether non-competition agreements are enforceable in Massachusetts, lawyers have had to say \u201cit depends.\u201d\u00a0 Well, it still does \u2013 but not as much.\u00a0 On August 10, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Baker signed a law that will take effect on October 1, 2018 and which will finally provide some clear guidance. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates-in-employment-law","tag-non-competes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are Non-Competes Enforceable in Massachusetts? 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