Veterinary Non-Competes in Illinois

Section 10(a) of the Freedom to Work Act bars an employer from entering into a covenant not to compete with any employee whose actual or expected annualized earnings don't exceed $75,000 per year.

That floor rises to $80,000 on January 1, 2027, $85,000 on January 1, 2032, and $90,000 on January 1, 2037.

A covenant signed with an employee below the floor in effect at signing is void and unenforceable under this subsection's own text, regardless of the covenant's duration, geography, or the activity it restrains.

Section 10(a) is one requirement among several the Act sets — § 5 separately defines "adequate consideration" as a condition for an agreement to be supported at all, and this page does not analyze every other section of the Act.

For an associate or relief veterinarian, the earnings floor in § 10(a) is a threshold question, not the whole of what the Act requires.

Illinois has no general "health care practitioner" non-compete statute.

The one health-adjacent provision in the Freedom to Work Act, § 10(f), makes a covenant not to compete or not to solicit unenforceable specifically as to the provision of mental health services to veterans or first responders — only for covenants entered after January 1, 2025, and only where enforcing it would raise the cost or difficulty of that care.

The license types it covers — clinical psychologist, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, nurse, and professional counselor — do not include veterinary medicine.

A veterinarian's covenant in Illinois is governed by the same earnings-threshold rule in § 10(a) that applies to any other employee, not by this narrower, conditional carve-out.

Two separate floors apply: $75,000 per year for a covenant not to compete, and $45,000 per year for a covenant not to solicit, both rising on the same schedule through 2037.

Meeting the earnings floor is not the only requirement in the sections read — § 20 separately voids a covenant unless the employer advises the employee in writing to consult an attorney before signing, and either delivers a copy of the covenant at least 14 calendar days before employment starts or gives the employee at least 14 calendar days to review it.

The earnings floor and the notice requirement each operate as independent conditions; §§ 10 and 20 do not themselves set a maximum duration or geographic radius, though other sections of the Act not read for this page may impose further requirements.

For a hiring practice, the notice paperwork carries as much statutory weight as the compensation figure covered here.

Section 5 defines "covenant not to compete" for purposes of the Act, and that definition expressly excludes a covenant or agreement entered into by a person purchasing or selling the goodwill of a business or otherwise acquiring or disposing of an ownership interest.

Because that kind of agreement falls outside the "covenant not to compete" definition, the § 10(a) non-compete earnings threshold does not apply to it — but § 5's separate "covenant not to solicit" definition carries no matching exclusion, so a solicitation restriction tied to the same transaction is not automatically excluded from the § 10(b) threshold.

For a veterinarian buying into or selling out of a practice, a covenant restraining competition tied to that transaction is not measured against the $75,000 threshold, though an accompanying solicitation restriction may still be measured against the $45,000 one.

What standard, if any, applies to a sale-of-business covenant not to compete is not addressed in the sources read for this page.

Section 10(b) treats a covenant not to solicit as its own category, void unless the employee's actual or expected annualized earnings exceed $45,000 per year.

That floor rises to $47,500 on January 1, 2027, $50,000 on January 1, 2032, and $52,500 on January 1, 2037 — the same schedule of increases Illinois uses for the non-compete floor, just at a lower starting point.

A covenant restricting only solicitation of clients, vendors, or co-workers is measured against this $45,000 floor, not the $75,000 floor that applies to a covenant not to compete.

Both floors and the § 20 notice requirement apply independently of each other.

The current $75,000 non-compete and $45,000 non-solicitation thresholds were added to the Freedom to Work Act by Public Act 102-358, effective January 1, 2022.

The mental-health-professional carve-out in § 10(f) was added later, by Public Act 103-915, effective January 1, 2025.

Both changes are recorded as amendments to the same Act; the sources read do not show any Illinois amendment specific to veterinary employment.

The sources read for this page cover the earnings thresholds, the notice requirement, the mental-health carve-out, and the sale-of-business exclusion; they do not cover other sections of the Act or how a court treats a covenant that clears § 10(a) but is otherwise contested.

Section 5 separately defines "adequate consideration" as at least two years of post-signing employment or another adequate professional or financial benefit — a requirement this page does not analyze in depth.

Section 10(c) also limits, rather than flatly bars, covenants for employees terminated because of business circumstances or governmental orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic or similar circumstances (unenforceable unless enforcement includes base-salary-equivalent compensation for the enforcement period), while § 10(d)-(e) void covenants for most construction workers and for employees under certain collective-bargaining agreements — categories not detailed here because they sit outside typical veterinary employment.

Those gaps, and how a covenant negotiated alongside a practice buy-in or buy-out is treated once it falls outside the § 5 sale-of-business exclusion, are left blank rather than filled in from outside these sources.