NOTE: As of today, we have all numbers except for Washington, D.C. We will update our Restrictive Covenant Wage Thresholds chart and our 50-State Noncompete chart when the D.C. information becomes available. We expect those numbers in February. To avoid confusion, until that update, please refer to our existing charts as supplemented by the new numbers below.
As you may recall, eleven states and Washington, D.C. have adopted minimum compensation thresholds or other criteria related to protecting workers from noncompetes based on wage or similar criteria.
In order of effective date, they are: Oregon (2008; updated 2022), Illinois (2016; updated 2022), Massachusetts (2018), Maine (2019), Maryland (2019; updated 2023; refined in 2024), New Hampshire (2019), Rhode Island (2020), Virginia, (2020), Washington (2020), Nevada (2021), Colorado (2022), and Washington, D.C. (2022).
But note that they are not all static.
In six of these states and D.C., the thresholds are to be determined annually: Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C. This year, those increases are:
- Colorado is going from $123,750 for noncompetes and $74,250 for nonsolicits (and maybe no-service and no-hire agreements) to $127,091 and $76,254.60, respectively.
- Maine is going from $60,240 for noncompetes to $62,600.
- Oregon is going from $113,241 for noncompetes to $116,427.
- Rhode Island is going from $37,650 for noncompetes to $39,125.
- Virginia is going from $73,320 for noncompetes and certain no-service agreements to $76,081.20 (est. based on $1,463.10 weekly).
- Washington is going from $120,559.99 for noncompetes, no-service agreements, and certain nonsolicitation agreements with employees and $301,399.98 for noncompetes, no-service agreements, and certain nonsolicitation agreements with independent contractors to $123,394.17 and $308,485.43, respectively.
- Washington, D.C. is going from $154,200 generally and $257,000 for medical specialists to $_____ and $_____, respectively.
The remaining states either have no regular increases (Illinois, Maryland, and New Hampshire) or use a different standard (Massachusetts and Nevada).
Some of these states also have thresholds for the use of other restrictions: nonsolicitation agreements (Colorado, Illinois, possibly New Hampshire and, depending on the scope of the covenant, Washington); no-recruit agreements (Illinois); no-service agreements (possibly Colorado, and Virginia and Washington); and conflict-of-interest/anti-moonlighting policies and restrictions (Maryland, Washington, and Washington, D.C.). Each is also addressed in the chart. Note the footnote to the chart.
We will continue to keep you posted as things develop.
In the meantime, you may also want to check your agreements more generally to make sure you are complying with the noncompete laws in all states in which you have employees. Our 50-state noncompete chart (the first of its kind, created in 2010, and updated regularly since then to keep track of the ever-changing noncompete laws) can serve as a starting point.
Firm resources:
We know how hard it is to keep up with the ever-changing laws and requirements around the country for how you can protect company’s trade secrets, customer goodwill, and the integrity of your workforce. To help, we have created the following resources (available for free):
 | 50-State Noncompete Law Chart, the first of its kind and regularly updated (downloadable PDF) (to be updated for the new exemptions in Illinois and Pennsylvania)50-State and Federal Trade Secret Law Chart, providing a comparison of the trade secrets laws nationally to the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (downloadable PDF) |
| Chart of Noncompete “Low-Wage” Thresholds and Criteria (downloadable) |
 | Notice requirements summary chart, providing details for each of the 8 states (plus D.C.) that has notice requirements related to noncompetes (downloadable PDF) |
 | “Changing Trade Secrets | Noncompete Laws” (dedicated blog page) now provides a current detailed summary of the changing landscape of trade secret laws and noncompete laws around the country, state by state and at the federal level
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 | Trade secret and other legitimate business interest protection plan strategy and checklist
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| Videos | Ten Minute Trade Secret Training SeriesTM and “Basics” Videos |
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| The Exit Plan: Being a Good Leaver
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The Entrance Plan: Preparing for the Cease and Desist Letter at Your New Job
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We hope you find all of these resources useful. More will be coming.
And please note, we are grateful for all of the input we’ve received over the years. We welcome any suggestions for improvements that you may be willing to share.
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*A huge thank you to Erika Hahn for all of her extraordinary help in tracking and monitoring all of the recent noncompete and trade secret caselaw developments.