House Bill 812 Summary

• Enacts the Uniform Restrictive Employment Agreement Act, establishing comprehensive regulations for noncompete agreements, confidentiality agreements, nonsolicitation agreements, and other restrictive employment agreements in North Carolina.

• Requires employers to provide workers with written notice at least 14 days before requiring restrictive agreements, with exceptions for prospective workers who can waive the requirement, and mandates the North Carolina Department of Labor create standardized notices about worker rights.

• Prohibits restrictive employment agreements for low-wage workers earning less than the annual mean wage in North Carolina and renders such agreements unenforceable if worker compensation falls below that threshold during employment.

• Limits noncompete agreements to 5 years for protecting business sales or creation, or 1 year for protecting trade secrets and customer relationships; restricts other agreement types to 6 months to 2 years depending on type; and requires agreements to be reasonable and narrowly tailored.

• Establishes enforcement mechanisms including statutory damages up to $5,000 per worker per agreement for violations, allows workers or subsequent employers to seek declaratory judgments, and awards reasonable attorneys' fees to prevailing parties; becomes effective January 1, 2024.