# Employee Restrictive Covenant Agreement ## Cover Terms The terms below are incorporated into and form part of this agreement. Employer : {employer_name} Employee : {employee_name} Employee Title / Position : {employee_title} Effective Date : {effective_date} Governing Law : {governing_law} Confidentiality Trade Secrets Duration : {confidentiality_trade_secret_duration} Other Confidential Information Duration : {confidentiality_other_duration} Employee Non-Solicitation Duration : {employee_nonsolicit_duration} Customer Non-Solicitation Duration : {customer_nonsolicit_duration} No Business with Covered Customers Duration : {nondealing_duration} Non-Investment Duration : {noninvestment_duration} Non-Disparagement Duration : {nondisparagement_duration} ## Standard Terms ### Defined Terms [[Competitive Business]] means the business activities described in Cover Terms under Competitive Business. [[Confidential Information]] means non-public information relating to Employer's business, including trade secrets, customer lists, pricing, business processes, technical data, and strategic plans, but excluding information that becomes public through no fault of Employee. [[Covered Customers]] means customers, vendors, referral sources, and business partners with whom Employee had material contact or for whom Employee had responsibility during the 12 months before termination of employment. [[Covered Employees]] means employees with whom Employee worked or whom Employee managed during the 12 months before termination of employment. [[Passive Public Holdings]] means ownership of securities of a publicly traded company representing less than {passive_public_holdings_threshold} of any class of such company's securities, and interests in diversified mutual funds, index funds, and exchange-traded funds that may hold securities of a Competitive Business. [[Protected Interests]] means Employer's goodwill in its customer, vendor, referral-source, and business-partner relationships, Employer's Confidential Information, and Employer's Trade Secrets. [[Restricted Period]] means the duration specified in Cover Terms for each covenant, beginning on the date Employee's employment with Employer ends for any reason. [[Restricted Territory]] means the geographic area described in Cover Terms under Restricted Territory. [[Solicit]] means to directly or indirectly contact, approach, induce, encourage, or provide Confidential Information to any person or entity for the purpose of diverting business away from Employer, but does not include responding to general advertisements or unsolicited inquiries not initiated by Employee. [[Trade Secrets]] means Employer's non-public information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable and that Employer takes reasonable measures to keep secret. ### Recitals and Legitimate Interests Employer and Employee acknowledge that each restrictive covenant in this agreement is intended to advance one or more of Employer's Protected Interests and to impose no restraint broader than is reasonable to serve that interest. The legitimate interests listed here are Employer's goodwill and Employer's Confidential Information, and the parties intend each covenant to be tied to the goodwill or information this Employee actually touched rather than to ordinary competition. Each covenant is intended to be reasonable in geographic scope and temporal duration and no broader than reasonable to protect the Protected Interest it serves. Employer would not provide Employee with access to these Protected Interests absent the protections in this agreement. ### Timing, Consideration, and Employee Acknowledgements If Employee signs this agreement after employment begins, Employer provides continued employment and any additional value identified in connection with this signing in exchange for Employee's agreement to these covenants. If this agreement is signed at the outset of employment, the offer and commencement of employment is the consideration. Employee acknowledges having had the opportunity to consult with independent legal counsel before signing. This agreement is effective as of the Effective Date listed in Cover Terms. ### Confidential Information and Trade Secret Protection Employee must treat all Confidential Information as strictly confidential. Employee must not use or disclose Confidential Information except as required to perform authorized job duties or with Employer's prior written consent. Employee's obligations regarding trade secrets continue in perpetuity, for as long as the information remains a trade secret. Employee's obligations regarding other Confidential Information continue for the period specified in Cover Terms. This confidentiality obligation is intended to operate alongside, and independent of, any restrictive covenant, and does not restrict Employee's use of the general knowledge, skill, and experience Employee acquired during employment. This obligation is scoped to genuinely confidential information and does not operate as a restraint on competition. ### Permitted Disclosures and Protected Conduct Nothing in this agreement prohibits Employee from: (a) reporting possible violations of law to any government agency, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or any other federal, state, or local agency; (b) making disclosures protected under whistleblower provisions of any law; (c) discussing wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment as protected by applicable law, including Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. § 157); (d) testifying truthfully in legal proceedings; or (e) filing a sealed complaint in court using Confidential Information without liability. Pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1833(b)), Employee may not be held criminally or civilly liable for disclosing a trade secret in confidence to a government official or attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or in a sealed court filing. ### Return, Deletion, and Certification of Company Property Upon termination of employment, Employee must promptly return to Employer all documents, devices, files, credentials, and other materials containing or relating to Confidential Information. Where permitted, Employee must permanently delete electronic copies of Confidential Information from personal devices and accounts. Employee must certify compliance with this section in writing upon Employer's request. ### Non-Solicitation of Employees During the Restricted Period, Employee must not Solicit, recruit, hire, or attempt to hire any Covered Employee. This restriction does not prohibit Employee from providing a professional reference upon request or from hiring a person who responds to a general advertisement not directed specifically at Employer's employees. This covenant reaches only Covered Employees during the Restricted Period and is no broader than reasonable to protect Employer's workforce stability and goodwill. ### Non-Solicitation of Customers, Vendors, Referral Sources, and Business Partners During the Restricted Period, Employee must not Solicit the business of any Covered Customer. This covenant reaches only Covered Customers with whom Employee had material contact and is no broader than reasonable to protect Employer's goodwill in those customer, vendor, referral-source, and business-partner relationships. ### No Business with Covered Customers During the Restricted Period, Employee must not accept, service, or do business with any Covered Customer, regardless of whether Employee or the Covered Customer first initiated contact. This restriction reaches only Covered Customers with whom Employee had material contact. ### Non-Investment During the Restricted Period, Employee must not acquire or hold any active ownership interest in, serve as a director, officer, manager, or advisor to, or have material economic participation in any Competitive Business. This covenant is drawn no broader than reasonable to advance Employer's Protected Interests. Passive Public Holdings are permitted. ### Non-Disparagement During the Restricted Period specified in Cover Terms for Non-Disparagement, Employee must not make statements that are intended to or reasonably likely to disparage Employer, its officers, directors, employees, products, or services. This section does not restrict Employee from making truthful statements in legal proceedings, providing truthful testimony, making disclosures to government agencies, or exercising rights protected by law, including rights protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. ### Physician and Health Care Practitioner Covenants If Employee is a physician, this agreement does not restrict Employee's right to practice medicine in a particular locale or for a defined period after termination. Employee remains responsible for any agreed damages reasonably related to injury caused by termination, including damages related to competition. ### No Conflicting Obligations Employee represents that performing duties for Employer and complying with this agreement does not conflict with any prior agreement, court order, or legal obligation binding on Employee, including any restrictive covenant or forfeiture-for-competition condition from a prior employer or equity arrangement. Employee must promptly disclose to Employer any potential conflict that arises during employment. ### Notice to Future Employers and Other Third Parties Employer may disclose the existence and terms of this agreement to any prospective employer or business associate of Employee if Employer has a reasonable belief that Employee may breach this agreement. Employee consents to this disclosure. ### Tolling During Breach If Employee breaches any restrictive covenant in this agreement, the Restricted Period for that covenant is extended by one day for each day of the breach, so that the full duration of the restriction runs from the date the breach ends. The parties do not intend an open-ended or indefinite extension, and any extension is limited to a period no longer than reasonable to protect Employer's Protected Interests. ### Remedies Employee acknowledges that a breach of this agreement may cause Employer irreparable harm for which money damages would be inadequate. Employer may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other remedies available at law. ### Enforceability and Severability If any provision of this agreement is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. ### Survival and Expiration of Each Covenant Each restrictive covenant in this agreement survives the termination of Employee's employment for the Restricted Period specified in Cover Terms. Obligations under the Confidential Information and Trade Secret Protection section survive for the Trade Secrets Duration specified in Cover Terms to the extent they relate to trade secrets, and for the Other Confidential Information Duration specified in Cover Terms for other Confidential Information. All other provisions survive to the extent necessary to enforce rights that arose during employment. ### Assignment and Successors Employee may not assign this agreement or any rights or obligations under it. Employer may assign this agreement to any affiliate, successor, or acquirer of all or substantially all of Employer's business or assets. This agreement is binding on and inures to the benefit of the parties and their respective heirs, successors, and permitted assigns. ### Governing Law, Venue, and Dispute Process This agreement is governed by the law listed in Cover Terms. Disputes will be resolved in the courts of the Governing Law state, subject to non-waivable rights under applicable law. The parties intend that the governing-law and venue choices match where Employee actually lives and works, and nothing in this agreement waives non-waivable restrictions under applicable law. ### Entire Agreement, Amendment, Waiver, and Electronic Signatures This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties regarding its subject matter and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings, and negotiations on this subject. This agreement may be amended only in writing signed by both parties; any amendment carrying forward a restrictive covenant must identify the consideration supporting that amendment. A party's failure to enforce any provision does not waive that party's right to enforce it later. This agreement may be executed in counterparts, including by electronic signature, each of which is an original. ## Signatures By signing this agreement, each party acknowledges and agrees to the restrictive covenant obligations above. Employee confirms having read and understood each provision, including the Cover Terms. Employer: {employer_name} Signature: _______________ Signatory Name: {employer_signatory_name} Title: {employer_signatory_title} Date: _______________ **Employee** Signature: _______________ Print Name: {employee_name} Date: _______________