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Employee restrictive covenants · Sources and data

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Every chart here opens the clauses behind it. Select a bar, a column or a state to read how the 91 filed agreements word their covenants.

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What a departing employee typically agrees to

Share of the 86 companies whose filings include each term, counting each company once across its 91 filed agreements.

ProvisionShare of companiesMost common term
Post-employment non-compete94%12 months 54% of companies
Employee non-solicitation / no-hire91%12 months 45% of companies
Customer non-solicitation88%12 months 51% of companies
Tolling during breach58%No term recorded
Passive-investment carve-out (max stake)68%5% cap 39% of companies
DTSA whistleblower-immunity notice63%No term recorded
Governing law97%17 statesSee the map

How long the restrictions last

12 months is the usual non-compete term. Non-solicitation covenants lean longer: their runner-up term, 24 months, covers 35% of employee non-solicits and 31% of customer non-solicits, against 24% of non-competes.

06121824364860Months after leavingNon-compete80 companies state a term54%11%24%Employee non-solicit76 companies state a term45%11%35%Customer non-solicit75 companies state a term51%11%31%

Bar height is the share of companies that state a term for that covenant; each company counts once. A term written in days is drawn beside the nearest whole month and counted as written. Select a bar to read those clauses.

How much stock a former employee may still own

Many non-competes exempt a passive stake in a publicly traded company, up to a cap. 5% is the most common ceiling.

27%1%20%2%10%3%39%5%2%10%2%20%

Share of the 59 companies that state a figure. Select a column to read those clauses.

Whose law governs

The state law each agreement chooses. These counts describe how this sample is spread across states; they are not a measure of national market share.

AKMEVTNHWA6IDMTNDMNWIMI5NY6MA6OR5NVWYSDIAIL4IN5OHNJ6CTRICAUTCO4NEMOARKYWVPA4MDDE5.5AZ3.5NMKS3OKLATN4VADCNCTX3MSALGA7SCHIFL6

A company whose filings choose different states’ laws counts fractionally toward each, so its total weight stays one.

Show as a table
Governing lawCompaniesShare
Georgia78%
Florida67%
Massachusetts67%
New Jersey67%
New York67%
Washington67%
Delaware5.57%
Indiana56%
Michigan56%
Oregon56%
Colorado45%
Illinois45%
Pennsylvania45%
Tennessee45%
Arizona3.54%
Kansas34%
Texas34%

Source wording, provision by provision

Search across every filing’s operative language.

Employee Restrictive Covenants / Sources

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Compare documents side by side · Updated 2026-07-22

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Annotated sources; annotation alone is not lawyer review.

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ProvisionSource documents · select to read
Post-employment non-competeRead all 85 sources →
Non-compete durationRead all 84 sources and term frequencies →
Employee non-solicitation / no-hireRead all 83 sources →
Customer non-solicitationRead all 80 sources →
Employee non-solicit durationRead all 80 sources and term frequencies →
Customer non-solicit durationRead all 79 sources and term frequencies →
Tolling during breachRead all 55 sources →
Passive-investment carve-out (max stake)Read all 61 sources and term frequencies →
DTSA whistleblower-immunity noticeRead all 57 sources →
Governing lawRead all 88 sources and term frequencies →
OpenAgreements is a free legal reference project. This research preview is not legal advice. See our methodology for how we research and verify content.
CC BY 4.0. Cite as OpenAgreements contributors, Employee Restrictive Covenants: underlying sources, OpenAgreements (last updated July 22, 2026), https://openagreements.org/surveys/restrictive-covenant/forms/data. Source excerpts and linked materials belong to their owners.
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