The First District Appellate Court in a recent decision held that a noncompetition agreement is not valid and enforceable if an employee is fired or resigns within two years. Illinois companies can still require newly hired workers to sign noncompetition agreements, but if the employee is employed for less than two years the restrictive covenant will lack the consideration necessary to be enforceable by an employer. There must be two years of continuous employment to be considered adequate consideration to support a postemployment restrictive covenant.

For details see Fifield v. Premier Dealer Services, Inc., 2013 IL App (1st) 120327

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