The recent Illinois Appellate Court case, Fifield and Enterprise Finance Group, Inc. v. Premier Dealer Services, Inc. 2013 IL App (1st) 120327, upheld an Illinois precedent stating that a “noncompetition agreement is not valid and enforceable if an employee is fired or resigns within two years.”
Illinois companies can still require newly hired employees to sign noncompetition agreements to protect its trade secrets and confidential information. However, if an employee has been employed for the company for less than two years, the restrictive covenants of noncompetition agreements are deemed to be lacking consideration necessary to enforce such covenants. The employment must be continuous for two years to be considered adequate consideration to support a post-employment restrictive covenant.
For more information about the above-mentioned case, you may visit the Illinois Bar Association’s website:
Should you have any questions regarding the above-mentioned restrictive covenants or other employment or business matters, please contact Oleg N. Feldman.
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