On June 18, 2025, the Florida legislature presented Governor Ron DeSantis with the Florida Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act. It is expected that Governor DeSantis will not veto the bill, and the CHOICE Act will become law on July 4. This legislation creates some of the strongest non-compete protections for employers in the country. The CHOICE Act creates two new categories of enforceable non-compete agreements for highly compensated employees. This law is effective for non-complete agreements signed on or after July 1, 2025, and does not apply to any pre-existing non-compete agreements.
The CHOICE Act applies only to agreements with covered employees – defined as employees or independent contractors earning a base salary at least twice the annual mean wage for the specific county where the employee works or where the employer has its principal place of business. Notably, this calculation is based on base salary and some benefits but specifically excludes bonuses and commissions. In addition, the Act applies only to either (1) a covered employee who maintains a primary place of work in Florida or (2) an employer whose principal place of business is in Florida and where the agreement is governed by Florida law.
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