Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility

In May of this year, we reported that Florida was on the cusp of enacting employer-friendly restrictive covenant legislation. Earlier this month, Florida passed that bill, enacting the “Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act.” Florida Governor DeSantis did not actually sign the bill; however, in Florida, a bill becomes law if the Governor fails to veto it within the allotted time.  As Governor DeSantis did not veto it, the CHOICE Act became law on July 3, 2025.

As previously reported, the CHOICE Act outlines certain noncompete and garden leave agreement requirements.  As long as the requirements are met, a court “must preliminarily enjoin” a “covered employee” from breaching a noncompete or garden leave agreement if a “covered employer” seeks enforcement of a “covered noncompete agreement” or “covered garden leave agreement.”

We recently reported that Kansas was in a minority of states to enact employer-friendly restrictive covenant legislation.  Florida is on the verge of joining Kansas following the introduction of House Bill 1219 (“HB 1219”), which creates, in part, the “Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act”. If enacted, HB 1219 will provide a framework for the use of permissible noncompete and garden leave agreements between a covered employer and covered employee. If passed, the bill would strengthen the enforceability of noncompete and/or garden leave agreements.

HB 1219 outlines certain noncompete and garden leave agreement requirements, such as confidentiality access and notice periods, to accept such agreements as enforceable. So long as the requirements are met, noncompete and garden leave agreements will not be considered a restraint of trade or an attempt to monopolize trade or commerce in violation of public policy. On April 23, 2025, the House voted 91-21 to pass HB 1219, and a day later, the Senate voted 28-9 to pass BH 1219. As of April 24, 2025, the bill was ordered and enrolled.