Non-Competition Agreements in Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin

Wisconsin law permits restrictive covenants as long as the terms are reasonable and necessary to protect certain business interests of the employer such as customer relations, trade secrets or confidential information. Factors considered when determining reasonableness include whether the employer uses such agreements in a systematic manner, the percentage of the employer's customers with whom the employee had contact, and the restrictions placed on time, territory and activity of the former employee.