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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 LawNew Hampshire
Confidentiality
Trade Secrets DurationPerpetual
Other Confidential Information Duration24 months
Employee Non-Solicitation
Duration24 months
Market benchmark (based on 76 companies)HideShow
TermFrequency
12 months44.7%
Selected default24 months34.9%
18 months11.2%
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.

Customer Non-Solicitation
Duration12 months
State-law basis 12 months

Reference 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
Duration12 months
State-law basis 12 months

Reference 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
Duration12 months
Non-Disparagement
Duration24 months
Consideration for Restrictive CovenantsEmployee's employment or continued employment with Employer, together with the compensation and access to Confidential Information that Employer provides under this agreement, which the parties agree are given in exchange for the restrictive covenants
State-law basis Employee's employment or continued employment with Employer, together with the compensation and access to Confidential Information that Employer provides under this agreement, which the parties agree are given in exchange for the restrictive covenants

Reference only — not part of this agreement.

The default recites employment or continued employment, a consideration basis New Hampshire accepts for a covenant not to compete, together with the compensation and confidential-information access the agreement itself provides. Counsel should replace it with the specific negotiated benefit where one exists.

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 and patient lists, pricing, business methods, technical data, and strategic plans, but excluding information that becomes public through no fault of Employee and excluding Employee's general skill, knowledge, and experience in the industry.

“Covered Customers” means customers, patients, 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 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 Trade Secrets, Confidential Information, customer relationships, business contacts, goodwill, and other legitimate business interests disclosed to or developed by Employee during employment.

“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 Confidential Information that derives economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable and that Employer takes reasonable measures to protect.

2. Recitals and Protected Interests

Employer and Employee acknowledge that Employee will receive access to Employer's Protected Interests and that the restrictive covenants in this agreement protect those interests. Employer would not provide Employee with that access absent the protections in this agreement.

Drafting Note The recognized protectable-interest catalog

A New Hampshire covenant carries only where it protects one of the interests the state recognizes — trade secrets, confidential information beyond trade secrets, an employee's special influence over the employer's customers, contacts developed during the employment, and the employer's goodwill and positive image . The mere cost of recruiting and hiring employees is not among them, so a covenant — including an employee anti-raiding clause — resting on training or replacement cost rather than a named employer asset fails the first prong, and the restraint falls with it . A recital reciting the interests protected is not self-proving; the covenant stands only where a concrete Protected Interest sits behind it and the restraint reaches no further than that interest requires.

3. Timing, Consideration, and Pre-Acceptance Delivery

This agreement is effective as of the Effective Date listed in Cover Terms and is supported by Employee's employment or continued employment with Employer, together with the compensation and access to Confidential Information that Employer provides under this agreement, which the parties agree are given in exchange for the restrictive covenants. Employee acknowledges that continued employment after signing this agreement constitutes consideration for the restrictive covenants. If Employee is a new hire required to sign the noncompete as a condition of employment, Employee acknowledges receiving this agreement before accepting Employer's offer of employment. Employer has given Employee a reasonable opportunity to review this agreement and to consult an attorney before signing.

Drafting Note Pre-acceptance timing

Consideration and timing are independent in New Hampshire. Continued employment after signing supplies consideration for the covenant, but a noncompete required of a new hire as a condition of employment is unenforceable if it was not delivered before the employee accepted the offer, and consideration does not cure that late delivery .

Drafting Note Offer notice

A noncompete that reaches a new hire only during onboarding or later amendment paperwork, rather than with the offer materials, has missed the RSA 275:70 pre-acceptance delivery window. The statutory consequence is unenforceability of the noncompete itself, while the agreement's other provisions may survive .

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 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. These obligations are in addition to any rights or remedies available under applicable law and apply regardless of where Employee works.

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 Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157; (d) testifying truthfully in legal proceedings or making disclosures required by law, court order, or a government investigation; 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, Patients, Vendors, Referral Sources, and Business Partners

During the Restricted Period, Employee must not Solicit the business of any Covered Customer with whom Employee had material contact or responsibility during the applicable lookback period.

Drafting Note The sphere of customer goodwill

Customer, territory, and duration limits are measured against the employee's actual sphere of customer goodwill, not the employer's full customer base or market footprint. A restraint reaching customers beyond the employee's own contacts goes far beyond that sphere and is more restrictive than necessary to protect the employer's legitimate interest , and geography and duration must be narrowly tailored to the goodwill interest and the worker's actual customer or patient contact rather than to a named region or a round number carried forward . A covenant drawn to the customers the employee actually served, in the market where that contact occurred, for no longer than the interest survives, is the one that holds; anything broader invites a court to treat the whole restraint as overbroad.

9. No Business with Covered Customers

During the Restricted Period, Employee must not accept, service, or do business with any Covered Customer, whether Employee or the Covered Customer initiates 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. This restriction does not apply if Employee earns an hourly rate at or below 200 percent of the federal minimum wage. If Employee is a new hire required to sign as a condition of employment, this restriction applies only if Employee received this agreement before accepting Employer's offer.

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 the right to discuss wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

12. Clinician Geographic-Practice Carve-Out

Notwithstanding any other provision, this agreement does not restrict a New Hampshire physician, nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, or podiatrist from practicing in any geographic area after the applicable employment or professional relationship ends. All other obligations remain in effect.

Drafting Note Clinician practice restrictions

A geographic practice ban directed at a covered New Hampshire clinician is void as to that restriction. Separate statutes reach physicians, nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and podiatrists — the advanced-practice-registered-nurse statute effective August 23, 2025 — and each voids the geographic restriction while preserving the remaining provisions of the contract; licensure, not job title, is the test, so the covered class is wider than any single worker-category label . Where the real concern is information protection rather than practice location, a separate confidentiality and trade-secret provision reaches that concern, and these statutes leave it intact.

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 a prospective employer or business associate of Employee if Employer reasonably believes Employee may breach this agreement. Employee consents to disclosure permitted by this section.

15. 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.

Drafting Note Tolling

A tolling or extension-during-breach clause is a drafting choice of uncertain enforceability in New Hampshire, where no appellate authority settles whether a restricted period extends during a breach and the court has refused to extend a written covenant's duration absent ambiguity or evidence of intent to extend it . A clause tied to the protected interest and the covenant's overall duration reads within that fair and natural meaning; one that assumes a court will carry the period beyond it rests on a rule New Hampshire has not adopted.

16. Remedies

Employee acknowledges that a breach of this agreement may cause Employer irreparable harm for which money damages would be inadequate, and that Employer may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other remedies available at law.

Drafting Note The irreparable-harm recital

An acknowledgment that breach causes irreparable harm is a recital, not proof. A court applying New Hampshire law may decline to enjoin a noncompete for want of irreparable injury or a favorable balance of the equities while still granting the narrower nondisclosure injunction the record supports . The equities are established on the evidence at the hearing, so an injunctive-relief clause secures the ability to ask for relief, not the relief itself.

17. Enforceability and Severability

If any provision of this agreement is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect. Each restrictive covenant in this agreement is independently enforceable.

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 as long as the information remains a trade secret. 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.

Drafting Note Conveyance of the covenant on an asset sale

Whether an employee noncompete travels to an asset-purchase buyer turns on the transfer language of the deal, not on a general assumption that covenants follow the business. New Hampshire read a noncompete as conveyed to the buyer under the plain terms of the asset purchase agreement's transfer provision , so an assignment clause that expressly conveys the restrictive covenants leaves the buyer's standing to enforce resting on the contract rather than open to a threshold challenge.

20. Governing Law, Venue, and Dispute Process

This agreement is governed by the law listed in Cover Terms under Governing Law. 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:

Adapted from OpenAgreements Wyoming and Florida restrictive covenant templates. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.