A Maine Non-Compete Agreement is typically used to prevent the employer’s confidential information from being shared with a competitor by current and former employees.
In some situations, a Maine non-compete agreement might limit where someone can work during and after leaving the company.
Legally Enforceable in Maine?
Yes, a non-compete agreement is legally enforceable in Maine, but it has to have a legitimate business interest as per § 599-A(2). A non-compete agreement cannot be used vindictively to make life unduly harsh or restrictive for an employee after leaving the company. If you plan on using a non-compete agreement to protect your business in Maine, you must understand what can and cannot be protected.
What’s Protected?
In general, any information deemed vital to the interests of the business can be protected by a non-compete agreement.
For example, trade secrets and other confidential information, including the company’s financial status, can be protected using a non-compete agreement. In addition, information about goodwill shown by the company can also be covered by Maine non-compete agreements.
Reasonable Use and Exemptions
For a non-compete agreement to be reasonably enforceable in Maine, it cannot be broader than necessary to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests. Furthermore, it has to be reasonable regarding time and space and cannot create an undue burden for the employee.
Furthermore, non-compete agreements in Maine signed after September 18, 2019, must be given to the employee with at least three days’ notice before the deadline to provide the employee with time to review the document before signing it.
Finally, for this agreement to be valid, the employee must have been employed for at least a year or remain employed for at least six months after signing the document, whichever is longer.
Those who work in the broadcast industry and low-wage workers earning less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level are not allowed to be restricted by a non-compete agreement.
Limitations on Time
If the non-compete is breached, the offended party has six years to bring a lawsuit.
Geographical Limitations
No specific geographic limitations are written into Maine statutes; however, a non-compete agreement could not be unduly harsh or restrictive against an employee. The non-compete agreement could be thrown out if a judge deems the geographic limitations overly broad.
Sample
If you are drawing up a non-compete agreement, take a look at this Maine non-compete agreement template, which is available for download as a PDF and in Word format:
