A South Carolina Non-Compete Agreement is a legal document that aims to protect a company’s confidential information from being shared by its current or former employees. It can also restrict these employees’ employment opportunities during and after their tenure with the business.
Yes, South Carolina non-compete agreements are legally enforceable. At the same time, specific criteria must be met for a non-compete agreement in South Carolina to be valid. If the agreement violates any of these criteria, it might be thrown out if challenged in a court of law.
Types of information protected by a non-compete:
Non-compete agreements in South Carolina must be reasonably used to be valid. For example, a non-compete agreement must be essential to protecting legitimate business interests. They cannot be unnecessarily harsh or punitive toward an employee.
All non-compete agreements in South Carolina must be limited in time and space and cannot hinder the employee’s attempts to earn a living. If a non-compete agreement goes against public policy, it could be thrown out by a court in South Carolina.
No specific time limitations are placed on non-compete agreements in South Carolina, but they cannot be overly harsh or restricted.
If the non-compete agreement is breached, the impacted party has up to 3 years to bring a lawsuit related to the breach of contract.
No geographic limitations are written into the law related to South Carolina non-compete agreements, but the agreement itself cannot be overly broad.
The employer must justify why certain geographic limitations have been put in place. The agreement could be thrown out if the limitations cannot be justified.
Download a South Carolina non-compete agreement template available in Word and PDF:
Start building your South Carolina Non-Compete Agreement here.
