Yesterday, I summarized the 75 noncompete bills (and various noncompete-adjacent bills) pending around the country this year.
I also noted that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin had until midnight last night to act on a bill that would add a new low-wage noncompete exemption in Virginia.
Well, as expected, Governor Youngkin signed the bill into law.
Prior low-wage threshold
As you may recall, in 2020, Virginia passed a law prohibiting the use of noncompetes for low-wage workers.
“Low-wage worker” was a defined term meaning “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 as determined pursuant to subsection B of §65.2-500.”
Initially, that threshold was about $50,000 per year. As of this year, that amount is about $76,081.20.
New low-wage threshold
The primary effect of this new law is to add another category of low-wage workers to Virginia’s existing low-wage exemption.
The new exemption is for an employee “who, regardless of his average weekly earnings, is entitled to overtime compensation under the provisions of 29 U.S.C. § 207 for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek,” i.e., someone who is not exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Other changes add more precision to existing language, as follows:
- “Nothing in this section shall serve to limit the creation or application of nondisclosure agreements intended to prohibit the taking, misappropriating, threating threatening to misappropriate, or sharing of certain information to which an employee has access, including trade secrets, as defined in § 59.1-336, and proprietary or confidential information.”
- “If the court finds a violation of the provisions of this section, the plaintiff shall be entitled to recover reasonable costs, including costs and reasonable fees for expert witnesses, and attorney fees from the former employer or other person who attempts to enforce a an unlawful covenant not to compete against such plaintiff.”
The new law will act prospectively, and apply only to noncompetes entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2025.
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 your trade secrets, customer goodwill, and the integrity of your workforce. To help, we have created the resources below (available for free). Each chart is regularly updated to reflect the latest developments.
 | 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.