Non-Competition Agreements in South Carolina

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 South Carolina

South Carolina courts have determined that restrictive covenants are enforceable if the terms are reasonable and necessary to protect a legitimate business interest of the employer. Courts generally will uphold a non-competition agreement when it is:

• necessary to protect legitimate business interests of the employer such as customer contacts;
• ancillary to a lawful contract;
• reasonably limited with respect to time and place;
• not unduly harsh and oppressive; and
• supported by valuable consideration.