Florida Enacts CHOICE Act, Expanding Employer Rights Under Non-Compete Agreements

Effective July 3, 2025, Florida enacted the Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act – a sweeping law that significantly expands employers’ ability to enforce non-compete and garden leave agreements. In contrast to recent federal and state efforts to curtail such restrictions on worker mobility, Florida has charted the opposite course championing restrictive covenants. The law authorizes "Covered Non-Compete Agreements," which permits employers to bar former employees from working in similar roles for up to four years. It also permits "Covered Garden Leave Agreements," under which employers may provide an employee up to four years’ advance notice of termination while continuing to pay the employee’s base salary and benefits—despite the employee not being required to work for most of the notice period and being prohibited from pursuing similar employment without employer consent. 

To be enforceable under Florida’s CHOICE Act, agreements must be in writing, governed by Florida law, delivered at least seven days before execution, advise of the employee’s right to consult with legal counsel before signing the agreement, and include written acknowledgment from the employee that the employee will receive confidential information or customer relationships during employment. Covered employees are those earning more than twice the mean annual wage in the applicable Florida county, excluding certain healthcare practitioners. Upon application by an employer, courts must issue preliminary injunctions prohibiting employees from providing restricted services, unless the employees can prove by clear and convincing evidence that they are not in violation of such agreements.  This makes it substantially easier to block employees from working for a competitor while litigation proceeds.