The Missouri test for a non-compete

A non-compete is a promise not to work for a competitor, or start one, for a time after you leave a job. Missouri courts see these as limits on open competition. So they enforce one only if it is clearly reasonable and no broader than needed.

It must also protect a real business interest. Missouri’s highest court has named two. The first is trade secrets. The second is customer contacts: the pull an employee gains with customers by dealing with them in person.

Courts judge what is reasonable by time and place, based on the job the employee really had. A limit that fits a regional sales manager may not hold up for a technician who never met a customer.

How to write a non-compete that holds up

In the leading case, Whelan Security Co. v. Kennebrew (2012), the court trimmed a too-broad customer ban to cover only customers each manager had dealt with, and refused to enforce a ban on possible future customers.

The lessons for employers are simple:

• Tie customer limits to customers the employee really served or learned about.
• Set a distance that matches where the employee worked, not everywhere the company does business.
• Pick a length of time you could explain to a judge.
• Do not count on a court to rewrite a clause that goes too far. A court can trim it, but the employer pays for the lawsuit.

Promises not to recruit employees (RSMo 431.202)

A non-solicitation clause is a promise not to recruit or hire the company’s employees after you leave. Missouri has a law just for these. It enforces a reasonable written promise of this kind when it protects certain interests. Those include the employer’s confidential information or trade secrets, and its customer and supplier relationships.

The law also allows this promise between an employer and an employee without those interests. But it can last no more than one year after the job ends. And it does not apply to workers who do only secretarial or clerical work.

A promise covered only by those employer-employee rules is “conclusively presumed to be reasonable” if it lasts one year or less after the job ends. In plain words, a court must treat it as reasonable.

The law has clear limits. It does not decide whether a non-compete is valid. Those still follow the court rules above. And nothing in it stops an employee from looking for or taking a new job right after leaving.

The federal non-compete rule is not in effect

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule that would have banned most non-competes across the country. A federal court set the rule aside before it took effect. On September 5, 2025, the FTC moved to drop its appeals and accept that ruling. For Missouri employers and workers, state law still controls.

The rest of the employment agreement

A non-compete is just one part of a bigger document. A good employment agreement also covers:

• Pay, and how bonuses are earned.
• Duties, and who the employee reports to.
• What counts as firing for cause.
• Notice and severance.
• Keeping company information private.
• Giving the employer ownership of inventions and work made on the job.

Harjot Singh Padda, JD, writes employment agreements and non-competes for Missouri employers. Mr. Padda also reviews them for employees and executives before they sign, or when they plan to change jobs. If an employer is trying to enforce one in court, or an employee has been sued, see injunctions and restraining orders or breach of contract. Claims of workplace discrimination are a separate matter. See employment discrimination.

Common questions

Related reading

• Injunctions and restraining orders
• Contract drafting and review
• Breach of contract
• Business law practice