Non-compete agreements are legal contracts between two or more parties where one party agrees not to engage in business activities that compete with the other.
Florida has state laws that address non-compete agreements; when they are enforceable and when they are not. It is essential to understand this because simply signing a non-compete agreement does not guarantee that it will hold up in court.
State-specific requirements
Florida law requires that non-compete agreements have a legitimate business interest and that they are reasonable. The word reasonable, for example, is defined in past legal cases, which is what the court looks at when evaluating whether a non-compete agreement is valid and enforceable.
Each requirement has words attached to a particular meaning that may or may not match your definition or idea of what that word means.
Suppose the court finds that a non-compete agreement has no legitimate business interest or violates any of the other requirements regarding non-compete agreements. In that case, it has the authority to void the contract.
Restrictions
For example, suppose a non-compete agreement does not specify a period of time for the duration of the contract. In that case, it may be unreasonable and unenforceable.
When it comes to non-compete agreements, parties are not entirely free to set their own terms. This is important to understand because the law has already stated the requirements governing non-compete agreements in Florida.
In case of breach of a non-compete, a person or business can pursue an enforcement action against the breaching party in court, which may include an injunction. An injunction prevents the other party from continuing the behavior, in this case, engaging in competition. In some cases, the breaching party may also have to pay damages.