The Sunshine State just got brighter for Florida employers seeking to enforce non-compete agreements. On April 24, 2025, the Florida legislature passed the Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act (the “Act”). The Act—which took effect on July 1, 2025—significantly enhances the enforceability of both non-compete and garden leave agreements in Florida. As a result, Florida may now be the most non-compete friendly state in the nation.
What Is the Act?
At bottom, the Act enhances Florida employers’ ability to implement and enforce restrictive covenants agreements. Specifically, the Act increases the allowable duration of such contracts and lowers the bar for enforcement. The Act’s stated goals include encouraging “optimal levels of information sharing and training and development,” protecting confidential information and client relationships, and providing predictability.
Who Is Covered?
The Act applies only to certain “covered employees” and “covered employers.”
Determining whether one is a “covered employee” or “covered employer” requires a review of wage data in the Florida county where the employer is located or the employee resides. Specifically, covered employees include all salaried employees and contractors earning more than twice the annual mean wage in the Florida county where either: (1) the covered employer’s principal place of business is located; or (2) the covered employee resides if the covered employer’s business is located outside of Florida. Based on wage data collected in 2023 and 2024, the compensation threshold could range anywhere between $80,000 and $150,000 depending on the county.
Importantly, only certain forms of earnings qualify when determining if an employee meets the salary threshold and is therefore “covered” by the Act. Qualifying earnings include: (i) base wage, (ii) salary, (iii) professional fee, (iii) other compensation for personal services, and (iv) the fair market value of any benefit other than cash. Excluded from this earnings calculus are: (i) health care benefits, (ii) severance pay, (iii) retirement benefits, (iv) expense reimbursement, (iv) distribution of earnings and profits not included as compensation for personal services, (v) discretionary incentives or awards, or (vi) anticipated but indeterminable compensation, such as tips, bonuses, or commissions.
Notably, the Act expressly excludes licensed healthcare practitioners, as defined by Fla. Stat. § 456.001. This includes any physician licensed under Chapter 458, chiropractors, nurses, and mental health practitioners and counselors. The enforceability of restrictive covenants with such healthcare practitioners is instead evaluated under existing Florida non-compete laws.
Covered employers include any entities or individuals employing or contracting with a covered employee.
Garden Leave Agreements
The first contractual provision addressed by the Act are garden leave agreements. Generally, “garden leave” allows an employer to require an employee to stay away from work but remain on the company’s payroll—while subject to ongoing contractual and legal duties (such as exclusivity, non-competition, fiduciary, etc.) Originating in Europe, the term “garden leave” is a colloquial reference to the notion that an employee—kept away from work but still being paid—can “go tend their garden.”
For purposes of the Act, a garden leave agreement is any contractual provision where an employee and employer agree to a period of advance notice before the employee’s termination (the “Garden Leave Period”). During the Garden Leave Period, the employee is paid their regular salary, although the employer may require them to stay away from work. The Act imposes several parameters for such agreements to be “covered” by the Act.
- Duration: The Act permits a Garden Leave Period of up to four years.
- Compensation: During any Garden Leave Period, an employee must continue to receive the same salary and benefits received in the month before the Leave Period began—although the employee is not entitled to any discretionary compensation.
- Work and Non-Work Requirements: During the first 90 days of the Garden Leave Period, an employer may require the employee to continue working. Thereafter, the employee need no longer provide services to the employer and can engage in non-work activities for the remainder of the Garden Leave Period. During this time, the employee may also work elsewhere but only with the employer’s permission.
- Reduction: The employer can reduce the Garden Leave Period on 30 days’ written notice to the employee.
- Formation Requirements: The agreement must be in writing and advise the employee of their right to consult legal counsel. The agreement also must contain a written acknowledgement from the employee confirming potential receipt of confidential information or substantial client relationships during employment. There is no requirement that the employee actually receive such information or access, only that the employee acknowledges they may during their employment.
- Review Period: The employee must be given at least seven (7) days to review the garden leave agreement.
Non-Compete Agreements
The Act also covers non-compete agreements. This means and includes a provision in a written contract prohibiting an employee from providing services similar to the services provided to the former employer during the non-compete period. Non-compete agreements are subject to several requirements under the Act.
- Duration: Employers can enforce non-compete agreements for up to four years, double the previous maximum duration.
- Geographic Scope: The non-compete agreement can cover a global geographic scope which is only limited by the scope “defined in the agreement.” There is also no requirement that the geographic area be reasonable.
- Formation Requirements: Covered non-compete agreements must be in writing, advise the employee of the right to consult legal counsel, and contain a written acknowledgement from the employee confirming potential receipt of confidential information or substantial client relationships during employment. Again, however, the Act does not require the employee actually receive such information or client relationships to be enforceable. In addition, non-compete agreements must provide that any non-compete period will be reduced for any non-working days of a covered garden leave agreement, if applicable.
- Review Period: The employee must be given at least seven (7) days to review the non-compete agreement.
Enforcement
The Act provides robust remedies for employers seeking to enforce covered garden leave and non-compete agreements. For example, covered agreements are presumptively enforceable. This shifts the burden of proof onto the employee to demonstrate a covered agreement is unenforceable.
Additionally, and importantly, the Act makes it easier for employers to secure injunctive relief in the event of breaches or threatened breaches of covered agreements. With limited exceptions the Act requires courts to grant an employer a preliminary injunction to enforce a covered agreement. This injunction may be used to prohibit the employee from working for another company or to prohibit another company from engaging with the employee during the garden leave or non-compete period.
Implications for Employers
The Act unequivocally places Florida near the top of any list of the “most non-compete friendly states.” While many jurisdictions have sought to limit or ban non-competes outright, Florida has moved strongly in the other direction. In no uncertain terms, the Act is a game-changer for employers seeking to use restrictive covenants to protect their confidential information, customer relationships, and business goodwill.
But employers must still be cognizant of the Act’s terms—or risk having their agreements held unenforceable. To leverage the Act’s employer-friendly provisions, businesses should work with experienced employment counsel to carefully draft restrictive covenant agreements for new employees. Employers should also review and update existing agreements to ensure non-compete and garden leave provisions comply with the Act. And if a covered agreement is breached, employers should work with experienced counsel to take full advantage of the Act’s business-friendly enforcement provisions.