Utah Non-Compete Agreement Laws
Short answer: Under Utah's Post-Employment Restrictions Act, a post-employment non-compete agreement generally cannot exceed one year from when the employee's employment ends — for covenants entered into on or after May 10, 2016. A covenant that violates this limit isn't just unenforceable beyond one year, it's void entirely under the statute.
Who this guide is for
Both Utah employers drafting non-compete agreements and employees trying to understand whether a non-compete they signed is actually enforceable.
The one-year cap
Utah Code §34-51-201 generally limits a post-employment restrictive covenant to no more than one year after the employee's employment with that employer ends. This is a hard statutory ceiling, not just a factor courts weigh — a non-compete drafted for, say, three years generally can't simply be enforced for the "reasonable" first year instead; the statute states the covenant is void if it exceeds the limit.
Why the effective date matters
This one-year cap applies to covenants entered into on or after May 10, 2016. If you're dealing with a non-compete signed before that date, different legal standards may apply — don't assume the current statutory cap automatically governs an older agreement without checking when it was actually signed.
Special, even more specific rules for broadcasting employees
Utah singles out broadcasting employees for additional requirements. For a broadcasting company and broadcasting employee, a non-compete is only valid if the employee qualifies as an "exempt broadcasting employee" and the covenant is part of a written employment contract of reasonable duration, considering industry standards, the specific position, the employee's experience, geography, and the parties' circumstances. Even then, it's enforceable only until the earlier of: one year after employment ends, or the end of the original contract term. A non-compliant broadcasting-industry covenant is also void.
What "void" actually means for you
If a Utah non-compete exceeds the one-year limit (or otherwise fails to meet the statutory requirements), it isn't simply reduced down to what would be enforceable — under the statute's own terms, it's void. This is meaningfully different from some other states' approaches, where a court might "blue pencil" (edit down) an overly broad covenant to something reasonable instead of voiding it outright. Whether Utah courts apply this exactly as written in every case is the kind of nuance worth an attorney's input if you're relying on this.
What this means for employers drafting agreements
Given the void-if-noncompliant consequence, drafting a Utah non-compete that exceeds the one-year cap doesn't just risk a court narrowing it — it risks losing the protection entirely. Getting the duration right from the start matters more in Utah than in states with a more forgiving judicial-modification approach.
What this means for employees who signed one
If you signed a Utah non-compete with a duration longer than one year (and it was entered into on or after May 10, 2016), there's a real statutory argument that it's unenforceable as written — this is worth raising with an employment attorney before assuming you're bound by its full stated terms, especially if you're considering a move to a competitor.
Frequently asked questions
Does the one-year cap apply to non-solicitation agreements too? Non-solicitation and confidentiality provisions are often treated somewhat differently from non-compete (non-competition) covenants specifically — confirm which category a specific restriction falls into rather than assuming the same cap automatically applies to every type of restrictive covenant.
Can an employer and employee agree to a longer non-compete if both sides want to? Given the statute's void provision, simply having mutual agreement to exceed one year generally doesn't make a longer covenant enforceable — this is a legislative limit, not a default that parties can freely waive.
Does this apply to non-competes signed as part of selling a business, not employment? Non-competes tied to the sale of a business are often treated under different legal principles than employee non-competes — confirm which framework applies to your specific situation.