Non-Competition Agreements in District of Columbia

Non-competition agreements, also known as covenants not to compete or restrictive covenants, are employment contracts used by employers to limit the ability of an employee to compete with the employer by stealing customers or trade secrets. Enforceable agreements must strike a balance between protecting the employer's legitimate business interests from an unfair competitive advantage with the employee's right to work in a field for which he or she is trained.  In general, courts decide what is considered reasonable or not reasonable by examining the type and size of the business, how long and over what geographic area the restrictions apply and whether adequate consideration, or benefit, was given the employee at the time the agreement was signed.

The Law In District of Columbia

District of Columbia courts have determined that restrictive covenants are enforceable if the terms are reasonable and necessary to protect certain business interests of the employer such as trade secrets or customer relationships. Factors considered when determining reasonableness include the nature of the business, the character of the service performed by and the station of the employee in relation to the area in which the employer is to be protected and whether the employer or employee acted in bad faith.