On January 3, 2025, the Washington State Legislature introduced HB1155 (the “Bill”) that, if passed, would broaden the definition of a “noncompetition covenant” and prohibit all employer-employee noncompete agreements.
The Bill would also seek to clarify the definition of “non-solicitation agreement” under Washington law. On January 13, 2025, the Bill was referred to the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee where it remains pending.
Washington’s statute restricting the use of noncompetition covenants took effect in 2020, and it was amended in important ways last year. The current Bill proposes yet more amendments.
If passed, the Bill would amend Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Sections 49.62.005 and 49.62.010 to expand upon the definition of “noncompetition covenant” and notes that the provisions protecting employees and independent contractors must be construed liberally. Under the Bill, a “noncompetition covenant” includes:
- Every written or oral covenant, agreement, or contract, that prohibits or restrains an employee or independent contractor from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind;
- A covenant, agreement, or contract between a performer and performance space, or any third-party scheduling the performer for a performance space . . . that prohibits or restrains the performer from engaging in a lawful performance;
- An agreement that directly or indirectly prohibits the acceptance or transaction of business with a customer; and
- Any provision in an agreement that threatens, demands, requires, or otherwise effectuates that an individual return, repay, or forfeit any right, benefit, or compensation, as a consequence of the individual engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind.
While the Bill seeks to broadly define “noncompetition covenant,” Washington’s noncompete law expressly states that “noncompetition covenant” does not