Is my non-compete enforceable in California?

The short answer

Generally no. Business and Professions Code 16600 voids contracts that restrain anyone from a lawful profession, and since 2024 California law also bars employers from entering into or attempting to enforce non-competes, wherever they were signed. Trade secret and confidentiality obligations are different and can still apply.

The rule

Business and Professions Code 16600 makes void any contract that restrains someone from engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business, with narrow exceptions such as the sale of a business.

Since January 1, 2024, Business and Professions Code 16600.5 goes further. Employers may not enter into or try to enforce a void non-compete, regardless of where it was signed, and a worker who prevails can recover attorney fees.

Section 16600.1 required employers to send individualized notice by February 14, 2024 that unlawful non-compete clauses in existing agreements were void.

Why the clause still appears

A clause can have no legal force and still have real force in someone’s head. A worker who believes they cannot join a competitor may turn down a job they were free to take.

What can still apply

Trade secrets. Using or disclosing a former employer’s trade secrets can still be unlawful.
Confidentiality. Obligations to protect genuinely confidential information can still bind you.
Indirect restraints. Clauses that cancel severance or equity for joining a competitor raise their own questions and are worth asking a lawyer about.

Common questions

My agreement has a non-compete. Should I worry?

In California, employment non-competes are generally void. The clause can still discourage people who do not know that, which is why it keeps appearing.

Did my employer have to tell me?

California required employers to send individualized notice by February 14, 2024 to current and some former employees that unlawful non-compete clauses were void.