A South Carolina Non-Compete Agreement is a legal document that aims to protect a company’s confidential information from being shared by its current or former employees. It can also restrict these employees’ employment opportunities during and after their tenure with the business.
Reasonable Uses and Objections
- Enforceable when terminated without cause? – Not decided.
- Employee non-solicitation agreement permitted? – Yes.
- Customer non-solicitation agreements permitted? – Yes.
- Does continuing employment equal sufficient consideration? – No.
Legally Enforceable in South Carolina?
Yes, South Carolina non-compete agreements are legally enforceable. At the same time, specific criteria must be met for a non-compete agreement in South Carolina to be valid. If the agreement violates any of these criteria, it might be thrown out if challenged in a court of law.
What’s Protected?
Types of information protected by a non-compete:
- contact information between businesses and customers can be shielded by a non-compete agreement. This means that those who sign a non-compete contract will not be allowed to share this information.
- Existing employees are also protected by a non-compete agreement, meaning that someone who signs this agreement cannot try to poach employees from the company.
- Existing payroll deduction accounts.
Reasonable Use and Exemptions
Non-compete agreements in South Carolina must be reasonably used to be valid. For example, a non-compete agreement must be essential to protecting legitimate business interests. They cannot be unnecessarily harsh or punitive toward an employee.
All non-compete agreements in South Carolina must be limited in time and space and cannot hinder the employee’s attempts to earn a living. If a non-compete agreement goes against public policy, it could be thrown out by a court in South Carolina.
Time Limitations
No specific time limitations are placed on non-compete agreements in South Carolina, but they cannot be overly harsh or restricted.
If the non-compete agreement is breached, the impacted party has up to 3 years to bring a lawsuit related to the breach of contract.
Geographical Limitations
No geographic limitations are written into the law related to South Carolina non-compete agreements, but the agreement itself cannot be overly broad.
The employer must justify why certain geographic limitations have been put in place. The agreement could be thrown out if the limitations cannot be justified.
Sample
Download a South Carolina non-compete agreement template available in Word and PDF:
