On March 23, 2026, Governor Bob Ferguson signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1155 into law, banning nearly all employment noncompetition agreements for Washington-based workers, including employees and independent contractors. The law becomes effective June 30, 2027.
The implications are immediate and significant. Employers will face increased workforce mobility, higher costs associated with recruiting and training talent, greater risk of theft of intellectual property, and disruption to client relationships.
Without noncompete agreements, safeguarding core business interests becomes significantly more challenging. Companies should act quickly to strengthen alternative safeguards—particularly stakeholder confidentiality and nonsolicitation agreements—and adopt practical risk-mitigation strategies. These include limiting access to sensitive information on a need-to-know basis, implementing technological safeguards such as access controls and monitoring systems, conducting thorough onboarding and exit processes, and reinforcing clear expectations around post-employment conduct within legal limits.
This is not a routine legal update—it's a tectonic shift to the landscape of how employers maintain their market standing by protecting their workforce, proprietary information, and customer relationships.
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