Virginia Bans Non-Competes for Certain Employees

Effective July 1, 2020, Virginia will ban non-competes for employees who make less than the average weekly wage. The law states:

“No employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete with any low-wage employee.”

The term “low-wage employee” is defined as:

An employee whose average weekly earnings, calculated by dividing the employee’s earnings during the period of 52 weeks immediately preceding the date of termination of employment by 52, or if an employee worked fewer than 52 weeks, by the number of weeks that the employee was actually paid during the 52-week period, are less than the average weekly wage of the Commonwealth…

The average weekly wage fluctuates each year. In 2019, the average employee brought home about $998 per week. Therefore, under the new Virginia non-compete law, if you make less than $52,000 per year, your employer can no longer require you to sign a non-compete as a condition of continued employed.

Here is a copy of the new law: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB480ER.

Do you need help with a Virginia non-compete? Feel free to call our office for a free consultation.