The Florida Legislature passed the “Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act” last month to provide employers two new outlets for protecting confidential information and client relationships from departing employees. Notably, the CHOICE Act does not change or limit Florida’s existing restrictive covenant law but rather expands it to provide a covered garden leave agreement and a covered noncompete agreement. If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2025.

Key Highlights

• The act creates a presumption that garden leave agreements and noncompete agreements adhering to its “covered” guidelines are enforceable and do not violate public policy.
• The act requires courts to issue a preliminary injunction against employees who seek to violate a “covered” agreement.
• To have the injunction dissolved or modified, the “covered” employee must establish either:
  • The employee will not perform similar work during the covered period or use the confidential information or customer relationships of the covered employer.
  • The employee will not engage in the same business or activity as the covered employer within the restricted area.
  • The employer has failed to pay the covered employee the compensation contemplated under the covered agreement and has had a reasonable amount of time to cure the deficiency.

Who Is Covered?

A “covered employee” is defined as an employee or individual who earns or is reasonably...

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