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December 12, 2023
Non-competition agreements have been under attack at the federal and state levels and New York was poised to join the growing number of states enacting legislation to limit their use. Specifically, in June 2023, the New York Senate voted to pass S3100A, which, if enacted, would have banned all post-employment non-competition agreements in the State.
However, on November 30, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would not be signing S3100A. Governor Hochul told reporters that the proposed ban failed to strike a balance between protecting lower- and middle-income workers and recognizing that higher-income workers have more negotiating power with employers.
Governor Hochul suggested that perhaps the State could regulate use of non-competition agreements by adopting a minimum salary threshold. She preliminarily proposed $250,000 as an appropriate threshold annual salary for a worker subject to a non-competition agreement.
We will monitor this issue and report on New York’s next steps.
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Pennsylvania, New York, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
