Non-Competition Agreements in Missouri

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 Missouri

The Missouri statute governing non-competition agreements since 2001 provides that such agreements are enforceable if they are structured to protect:

• confidential information,
• trade secret information,
• relationships, goodwill or loyalty with customers, or
• relationships, goodwill or loyalty with suppliers.