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Committee advances noncompete reform bill limiting durations and exempting lower-wage workers
Summary
HB 10-34 would establish rebuttable presumptions for noncompete durations, allow courts to modify covenants rather than void them, and bar noncompetes for employees earning under $70,000; committee approved amendments and forwarded the bill to Health and Rules.
Representative Alexander (speaker 9) presented HB 10-34 as a statutory framework to create clear, predictable rules for restrictive covenants. The sponsor said the bill sets time thresholds—up to two years for employee noncompetes, three years for distributors/franchisees and licensees, and up to five years for covenants tied to business sales—and prohibits noncompete agreements for employees earning under $70,000 annually. The measure preserves confidentiality and nonsolicitation protections and allows courts discretion to modify an unreasonable covenant rather than automatically voiding it.
Committee members asked enforcement questions and discussed whether remedies arise in contract language or via the courts; sponsor and members agreed courts would largely handle enforcement and employers typically specify remedies in employment agreements. After amendment work and committee discussion the clerk reported 21 ayes and 1 nay and the bill moved on to Health and Rules.
