EMPLOYMENT · JUL 2026
Illinois non-competes after the 2025 amendments: what still holds up
Three drafting changes that decide whether your restrictive covenant survives a preliminary injunction hearing.
The threshold nobody checks first
The amendments raised the compensation floor below which a non-compete is void outright, and they index it. Before arguing reasonableness, confirm the employee cleared the floor on the date the agreement was signed — not on the date they left. We have watched well-drafted covenants fail on that single fact, and no amount of narrow tailoring saves an agreement that was void when it was made.
Consideration, and the two-year rule
Illinois courts still look for adequate consideration, and continued employment alone is generally not enough unless the employee stays roughly two years afterwards. Pay something at signing. A modest, documented payment converts an argument about years of service into an argument about a number, and the second argument is much easier to win.
Tailor the activity, not just the map
Geography is the restriction courts scrutinise least these days; activity scope is what decides the hearing. A covenant that bars competing work for the accounts the employee actually served reads as protective. One that bars an entire industry across a state reads as punitive, and a judge who thinks so will decline to blue-pencil it for you.
What to do before the hearing
Preliminary injunction practice moves in weeks, not months. Preserve the employee’s device and email access log the day notice arrives, identify the specific customers at risk, and quantify the harm in a declaration a judge can read in ten minutes. Cases are usually lost on the record assembled in the first fortnight.