On March 23, 2026, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law a bill banning nearly all noncompete agreements for employees and independent contractors, effective June 30, 2027. The law, Substitute House Bill (SHB) 1155, declares that all “noncompetition agreements” are “void and unenforceable” after that date, and prohibits employers from enforcing such restrictions.

Quick Hits

• On March 23, 2026, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law that will ban noncompete agreements for employees and independent contractors.
• The law will declare all current employment-based and independent contractor-based “noncompetition agreements” to be void and unenforceable, and will prohibit employers from enforcing them.
• The law will prohibit entering into new employment-based and independent contractor-based noncompetition covenants.
• The ban will not apply to certain other restrictive covenants, including narrowly-drafted nonsolicitation agreements.
• The law takes effect on June 30, 2027, and it will require employers to notify employees, former employees, and independent contractors, in writing, by October 1, 2027, that any applicable noncompete agreements are no longer enforceable.

Banning Noncompetition Agreements

The signing of SHB 1155 comes two weeks after the Washington State Legislature passed the bill, and builds off the 2019 restrictions on noncompete agreements, which had limited their use to high-earning employees and even higher-earning independent...

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