Employee Restrictive Covenant Agreement
Cover Terms
The terms below are incorporated into and form part of this agreement.
| Employer | [Legal name of the entity that employs the employee] | ||||||||
| Employee | [Full legal name of the employee] | ||||||||
| Employee Title / Position | |||||||||
| Effective Date | [Effective date of this agreement — the date the last party signs. It anchors the duration presumptions stated in Cover Terms.] | ||||||||
| Governing Law | Kansas | ||||||||
| Confidentiality | |||||||||
| Trade Secrets Duration | Perpetual | ||||||||
| Other Confidential Information Duration | 24 months | ||||||||
| Employee Non-Solicitation | |||||||||
| Duration | 24 monthsMarket benchmark HideShow
Why this selected default?Why is this the selected default?24 months matches the modal employee non-solicit term observed in benchmarked, publicly-filed employee agreements; 12 months is the common lighter alternative. The Act sets no express duration presumption for the no-hire category, so the uniquely-essential scope limit does the primary category work; counsel should size the term to the workforce interest actually protected. Showing 3 representative examples. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing.
Showing 3 representative examples. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing.
Showing 3 representative examples. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing.
Showing 3 representative examples. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 3 examples in the complete benchmark →Showing 1 representative example. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 1 example in the complete benchmark →Showing 1 representative example. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 1 example in the complete benchmark →Showing 1 representative example. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 1 example in the complete benchmark →Showing 1 representative example. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 1 example in the complete benchmark →Showing 1 representative example. Company names link directly to the underlying SEC filing. See all 1 example in the complete benchmark → | ||||||||
| Customer Non-Solicitation | |||||||||
| Duration | 24 monthsState-law basis 24 monthsReference only — not part of this agreement. 12 months sits well inside the presumptively reasonable window for a current-customer non-solicit: eighteen months, or for as long as post-separation consideration is paid, whichever is greater. Counsel may extend toward eighteen months, or longer while post-separation consideration is paid, where the interest supports it. | ||||||||
| No Business with Covered Customers | |||||||||
| Duration | 24 monthsState-law basis 24 monthsReference only — not part of this agreement. 12 months sits within the current-customer window. Because non-dealing has no category of its own, it is drawn to fit inside the current-customer non-solicit exception, and its duration tracks that category's presumption. | ||||||||
| Non-Investment | |||||||||
| Duration | 12 months | ||||||||
| Non-Disparagement | |||||||||
| Duration | 24 months |
Standard Terms
1. 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 and prospective customers that Employee solicited, produced, or serviced, directly or indirectly, or about whom Employee had confidential business or proprietary information or trade secrets, in the course of Employee's relationship with the customer 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 five percent 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 Confidential Information, trade secrets, goodwill in its customer, vendor, and business-partner relationships, and, for a professional practice, referral sources, but not Employer's interest in avoiding ordinary competition.
“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 solicit, recruit, induce, persuade, encourage, direct, or otherwise interfere with, directly or indirectly, a person or entity, but does not include responding to general advertisements or unsolicited inquiries not initiated by Employee.
“Trade Secrets” has the meaning given in the Kansas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, K.S.A. 60-3320(4).
2. Recitals and Protectable Interests
Employer and Employee acknowledge that each restrictive covenant in this agreement protects one or more of Employer's Protected Interests and is reasonable in time, territory, and scope. Employer would not provide Employee with access to its Confidential Information, trade secrets, customer goodwill, and referral sources absent the protections in this agreement.
Drafting Note The four-factor test, the employer's burden, and unlimited appellate review
Each covenant in the agreement clears the four-factor reasonableness test on its own, and the employer carries the burden of showing that a legitimate interest, no undue burden on the employee, no injury to the public welfare, and reasonable time and territory are all satisfied . Adequate consideration establishes only that a covenant is supported, not that it is reasonable, so a covenant that clears the consideration question can still fail this test. Enforceability is reviewed without deference on appeal, so a covenant that survives the trial court can be retested in full, and a recital of irreparable harm smooths the path to interim relief but does not substitute for a covenant that survives the four factors . A disclosure to a departing employee's next employer built on a covenant a court later narrows or declines to enforce exposes the employer to a claim of its own, so the restraint worth papering is one the employer is prepared to defend on all four factors.
3. Timing, Consideration, and Employee Acknowledgements
In consideration of Employee's employment or continued employment, the parties agree to the terms of this agreement. Employee acknowledges having had the opportunity to consult with independent legal counsel before signing this agreement. Employee acknowledges that the restrictions in this agreement are reasonable and necessary to protect Employer's Protected Interests. This agreement is effective as of the Effective Date listed in Cover Terms.
4. 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, including customer lists, pricing, and confidential know-how, continue for the period specified in Cover Terms. This obligation does not restrict Employee's use of the general knowledge, skill, and experience Employee acquired during employment.
Drafting Note Confidential information
The trade-secret statute does not reach ordinary confidential information. Wolfe Electric confirms the Act is the exclusive remedy for trade-secret misappropriation and reaches only information meeting the statutory definition, so information that falls short of trade-secret status is protected only by a separate, reasonable confidentiality covenant, and an agreement that lumps everything under a trade-secret label leaves its non-secret information unprotected .
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Non-Solicitation of Customers
During the Restricted Period, Employee must not Solicit the business of any Covered Customer, including any reduction, termination, acceptance, or transfer of any Covered Customer's business, in whole or in part, for the purpose of providing any product or service that is competitive with those provided by Employer.
Drafting Note The material-contact safe harbor and the coworker no-recruit gap
The statutory safe harbors are covenant-specific. A customer non-solicit limited to material contact customers and capped at two years is conclusively presumed enforceable and not a restraint of trade, and — mapped to the employer's customer-goodwill interest — it is often a more readily enforceable protection than a broad non-compete, which stays on the common-law reasonableness test . A covenant drawn wider than the safe harbor, through an entire-book-of-business scope or a term past two years, forfeits the presumption and falls back to the general reasonableness baseline. The safe harbors do not reach an employer-employee covenant not to recruit coworkers: no conclusive presumption covers that restraint, so a coworker no-recruit clause stands on ordinary reasonableness and holds only where it reaches no further than the employer's interest in workforce stability .
9. 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.
10. 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. Passive Public Holdings are permitted.
11. 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.
12. Physician and Health Care Practitioner Covenants
If Employee is a physician or other health care practitioner, any covenant in this agreement restraining Employee from the practice of the profession is intended to use a reasonable radius and a reasonable term and to preserve patient access and continuity of care.
13. 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. Employee must promptly disclose to Employer any potential conflict that arises during employment.
14. 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.
15. Restricted Period; No Open-Ended Extension
The Restricted Period for each covenant is a defined, fixed term running from the date Employee's employment ends, as specified in Cover Terms. The parties do not intend, and this agreement does not provide for, any extension of the Restricted Period during a breach or during enforcement litigation. Employer's remedy for competition during the Restricted Period is damages and injunctive relief, not added time; the Restricted Period is not extended, tolled, or suspended by any breach or dispute.
Drafting Note Tolling duration
An open-ended tolling-during-breach-and-litigation clause in a Kansas non-compete is a serious enforcement risk rather than a safety net. Doan refused to enforce one as an unreasonable, potentially indefinite restraint, so the time such a clause purports to add back may simply not be enforced, while a defined and reasonable fixed term stands on the ground Doan approved .
16. 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.
17. Enforceability and Severability
If any provision of this agreement is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. 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. 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: [Legal name of the entity that employs the employee]
Signature:
Signatory Name: [Full name of the authorized signatory signing for the employer]
Title: [Title of the authorized signatory signing for the employer]
Date:
Employee
Signature:
Print Name: [Full legal name of the employee]
Date: