To find out if you have a non-compete agreement, pull up the paperwork you signed when you were hired and any documents tied to later raises, promotions, bonuses, stock grants, or severance offers. The non-compete is almost never in the offer letter itself. It usually sits in a separate attachment with a title like “Restrictive Covenant Agreement,” “Non-Competition Agreement,” “Proprietary Information and Inventions Assignment Agreement,” or “Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreement.” Most people who signed one don’t remember doing it, because it arrived in a stack with tax forms and handbook acknowledgments on day one.
Where to Look First
Start with your original hiring documents. If you onboarded through a digital platform, log into your employer’s HR or payroll system and pull every document you e-signed. Workday, BambooHR, and ADP typically keep signed agreements on file indefinitely. Then search your personal email for the week you started, focusing on messages with PDF attachments or DocuSign links. A subject line like “please review and sign” dated to your first week is a strong lead.
Non-competes don’t only arrive at hiring. Employers often introduce them later, tied to something of value: a promotion, a bonus, a stock option grant, or a severance package. If you signed new paperwork when you got a raise or changed roles, check those documents too. A non-compete buried inside a stock option agreement or a severance letter is just as binding as one signed on your first day, if it meets your state’s enforceability requirements.
What the Language Looks Like
You’re looking for a clause that restricts where you can work, who you can work for, or what kind of business you can start after leaving. The phrases to search for include “covenant not to compete,” “non-competition,” “restrictive covenant,” and “post-employment restrictions.” Some agreements avoid the word “compete” entirely and describe the restriction as a list of prohibited activities instead.
A typical non-compete clause specifies three things:
- What you can’t do (work for a competitor, start a competing business)
- Where the restriction applies (a geographic radius, a list of named competitors, or an industry)
- How long it lasts (usually six months to two years)
If the document contains all three elements, it’s a non-compete, regardless of what the heading calls it.
While you’re reading, note the choice-of-law clause. That provision says which state’s laws govern the agreement, and it may not be the state where you live or work. A handful of states have laws that stop employers from using choice-of-law provisions to route around local non-compete protections, but many do not. Which state’s law applies matters, because enforceability varies dramatically from one jurisdiction to the next.
Other Clauses You Might Confuse With It
Non-competes rarely travel alone. The same document often contains other restrictions that limit different behavior, and it’s worth knowing the difference before you assume you’re free to move.
Non-solicitation clauses prohibit you from reaching out to the company’s clients, customers, or employees after you leave. This is narrower than a non-compete because it doesn’t stop you from working for a competitor. It only stops you from actively poaching business or people.
Non-disclosure agreements prevent you from sharing confidential information, trade secrets, or proprietary data. NDAs are almost universally enforceable regardless of your state’s stance on non-competes, so don’t assume that living in a state that bans non-competes means all your restrictions are void.
Garden leave provisions require you to give extended notice before resigning, during which you remain on the payroll but do no work. Because you’re still technically an employee and still being paid, courts are generally more willing to enforce garden leave than a traditional unpaid non-compete.
You could have no non-compete at all and still be bound by a strict non-solicitation clause, which can be just as limiting in practice if your value to a new employer depends on the client relationships you built.
If You Can’t Find the Paperwork
If you’re still employed and can’t locate your documents, ask HR directly. A simple email requesting copies of every agreement you’ve signed is usually enough. Most HR departments will provide them without pushback, because they want you aware of the restrictions too.
If you’ve already left, your options depend on where you worked. A majority of states have laws granting current and former employees the right to inspect or receive copies of their personnel records. Employer response times range from the next business day to 30 calendar days depending on the state. Some states allow employers to charge a small reproduction fee limited to the actual cost of copying. Employers who refuse a proper written request can face penalties in states with these access laws.
Word your request carefully. Ask for a complete copy of your personnel file, “including all signed agreements, restrictive covenants, and amendments.” Some employers read “personnel file” narrowly and will exclude standalone agreements unless you specifically ask for them. If the company stonewalls, an employment attorney can usually get the documents produced quickly.
Whether What You Find Actually Binds You
Finding a signed non-compete doesn’t mean it controls your career. Enforceability depends on your state’s laws, and the picture has shifted significantly in recent years. Four states ban non-competes in the employment context entirely, and more than 30 others impose meaningful restrictions.
A growing number of states use income thresholds, meaning a non-compete is only enforceable against workers earning above a set amount. For 2026, those thresholds range from roughly $30,000 at the low end to over $160,000 at the high end depending on the state. Some states set separate, lower thresholds for non-solicitation agreements. If your earnings fall below your state’s threshold, the non-compete is void even if you signed it willingly. Most states adjust these numbers annually, so check the current figure.
In states that do allow non-competes, courts test them for reasonableness in three areas: how long the restriction lasts, how large the geographic area is, and how broadly the prohibited activities are defined. Restrictions of six months to a year are generally treated as presumptively reasonable; anything past two years faces serious skepticism. Geography must relate to where the employer actually does business. And the restricted activity has to protect a legitimate interest like trade secrets or specialized training, not just block you from the industry.
An overbroad agreement doesn’t automatically disappear. The vast majority of states let courts “blue pencil” an unreasonable clause down to whatever scope a judge considers reasonable and then enforce the trimmed version. Only a handful of states take the all-or-nothing approach that voids an overbroad clause outright.
One more thing worth checking: whether the agreement was properly presented to you. Several states now require employers to give candidates the non-compete text before hiring is finalized, often at least 14 days before the start date. If yours was handed to you on your first morning without advance notice, that procedural failure could make it unenforceable where these rules apply. And if you signed a non-compete after you were already employed, in exchange for nothing more than keeping your existing job, roughly a dozen states treat that as inadequate consideration and refuse to enforce the agreement.
A note on federal law: there is no federal ban on non-competes. The FTC issued a rule in April 2024 that would have banned nearly all of them nationwide, but federal courts blocked it, and in September 2025 the FTC withdrew its appeal and agreed to the rule’s vacatur. Whether your non-compete binds you depends entirely on your state’s laws.
Reading the Document Once You Have It
Once you have the agreement in hand, read it with a pen. Write down the exact duration, the geographic scope, and the specific activities it prohibits. Then check your state’s rules and, if applicable, whether your income falls below the enforcement threshold. Many people find at this point that their non-compete is either unenforceable by statute or so overbroad that a court would likely narrow it significantly.
If the agreement looks like it has teeth and you’re considering a move, talk to an employment attorney before giving notice. Enforceability turns on the interaction between your specific contract language, your state’s statutes, and the facts of your new role. An attorney who handles these disputes can usually tell you in one consultation whether the agreement is a real problem, and that costs far less than defending an injunction after you’ve already started a new job.