Contract trap · Employment
Post-term non-compete
After the contract ends you may not work for competitors or clients in the same sector for 1-2+ years, often nationwide, sometimes with a tolling clause and fixed penalties (RU: штраф 500 000-3 000 000 ₽); during the term the freelancer must devote 'full time and attention' or may not serve any other client (or the SMB client may not engage any other agency).
- Severity
- Severe
- How often it turns up
- Regular
- Holds up?
- Depends where you are
- Clause phrases
- 23
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in
- competitive with the business of
- for a period of
- months following termination
- anywhere in the world
- within a radius of
- garden leave
- the restricted period shall be extended by
- covenant not to compete
- shall devote full time and attention
- shall not provide services to any third party
- sole and exclusive provider
In Russian-language contracts
- соглашение о неконкуренции
- обязуется не осуществлять деятельность, конкурирующую
- не оказывать аналогичные услуги конкурентам
- в течение 2 (двух) лет после прекращения договора
- не заключать трудовой договор с конкурентами
- штраф за нарушение обязательства о неконкуренции
- не вправе оказывать аналогичные услуги третьим лицам
- без письменного согласия Заказчика
- эксклюзивный исполнитель
- Заказчик обязуется не привлекать других исполнителей
- работа по совместительству допускается только с согласия работодателя
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
For a worker or freelancer whose whole practice is one niche this is a ban on earning; even where unenforceable, the threat letter scares off new clients; low-wage workers have been hit (Jimmy John's, Amazon warehouse temps, security guards); exclusivity is a top misclassification signal and blocks an SMB from hiring a second vendor when the first underperforms.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
The rules differ sharply: in Germany and France a post-term non-compete is only valid if the employer pays compensation, in England it must go no further than protecting a legitimate interest, and in the US enforceability is state by state.
United States
State law governs: void in California (B&P 16600; 16600.5 voids them regardless of where signed, private right of action since 2024), Minnesota (181.988, since July 2023, covers contractors), North Dakota, Oklahoma; income thresholds in CO, WA, IL, OR, VA, MD, RI, NH, ME; the FTC 2024 nationwide ban was set aside in Ryan LLC v. FTC (N.D. Tex. 2024) and the FTC acceded to vacatur in Sept 2025, shifting to case-by-case enforcement (Gateway Services consent order, Sept 2025); Florida's CHOICE Act (July 2025) allows up to 4-year non-competes for high earners; contractor exclusivity is strong evidence of employee status under economic-reality/ABC tests (CA AB5).
- Cited
- B&P 16600
- Ryan LLC v. FTC
European Union
Employee non-competes need compensation (Germany §74 HGB: at least 50% of pay, max 2 years; France: contrepartie financière or void; Italy art. 2125 c.c.); Directive (EU) 2019/1152 Art 9: employers may not prohibit parallel employment except on objective grounds; freelancer/B2B restraints judged under contract and competition law — enforceable only if limited in scope, time and territory, and long exclusivity without minimum pay signals pseudo self-employment (DE/FR).
- Cited
- §74 HGB
United Kingdom
Prima facie void as restraint of trade; enforceable only if no wider than necessary — typically 3-12 months, narrowly drawn; Tillman v Egon Zehnder [2019] UKSC 32 allows severance; a 3-month statutory cap was proposed (2023) but not enacted; exclusivity terms void in zero-hours contracts (2015 Regulations) and for workers below the Lower Earnings Limit (2022 Regulations); exclusivity plus control points to worker status (Uber v Aslam).
- Cited
- [2019] UKSC 32
- Tillman v Egon Zehnder
- Uber v Aslam
Russia
Для работников не работает: ст. 37 Конституции, ст. 9 ТК, письмо Минтруда от 19.10.2017 № 14-2/В-942; работник вправе работать по совместительству у другого работодателя без разрешения (ст. 60.1 ТК; исключение — руководитель, ст. 276); между ИП/юрлицами практика противоречива — арбитражные суды иногда взыскивают штраф (ст. 421), иногда признают условие ничтожным как отказ от правоспособности (ст. 22 ГК) или ограничение конкуренции (ст. 11 135-ФЗ); штраф снижаем по ст. 333; запрет самозанятому работать с другими заказчиками — признак подмены трудовых отношений (Пленум ВС № 15/2018).
- Cited
- 135-ФЗ
- Пленум ВС № 15/2018
- ст. 11
- ст. 22 ГК
- ст. 276
- ст. 333
- ст. 37
- ст. 421
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Jimmy John's — 2-year, 3-mile non-compete for sandwich makers; settlements with NY and IL Attorneys General (2016)
- FTC v. Prudential Security (Jan 2023) — 2-year/100-mile non-compete with $100,000 penalty imposed on security guards; consent order
- Amazon — 18-month non-compete for warehouse temps, dropped after The Verge report (2015)
- Ryan LLC v. FTC (N.D. Tex. 2024); FTC accession to vacatur (Sept 2025); Minn. Stat. §181.988 (2023); Florida CHOICE Act (2025)
- Directive (EU) 2019/1152, Article 9 (parallel employment)
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Strike it, or convert it into a narrow non-solicit of named clients for 6-12 months with paid garden leave if they insist
- Limit exclusivity to named competitors in a schedule and require a minimum guaranteed fee if any remains
- For employees replace with a conflict-of-interest disclosure duty
- Check your jurisdiction: CA, MN, ND, OK void non-competes outright, UK/EU courts strike overbroad ones, RU labour law does not allow them at all for employees
- Keep evidence of your bargaining position and any threat letters.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.