Alabama non-compete law: Ala. Code 8-1-190 for recruiters

Alabama enforces employee non-competes, but only inside a statute that starts from the opposite rule. Alabama Code section 8-1-190 says any contract restraining someone from a lawful profession, trade or business is void, then lists the contracts that are allowed to protect a "protectable interest": an employee's agreement not to compete within a specified area (two years or less presumed reasonable) and not to solicit current customers (18 months presumed reasonable). The agreement must be written, signed by all parties and supported by adequate consideration, and a court may reform one that goes too far. That is the law as of October 2026; it has not been amended since it took effect on January 1, 2016.

For a recruiter, the practical point is that an Alabama candidate's covenant is often enforceable in some form, and the facts that decide it (when it was signed, what it protects, whether the candidate is a professional) are facts you can collect without giving an opinion. The general screen is in non-compete questions for candidates, and the agency and client clauses are in non-solicitation clauses for recruiters.

What does Alabama law say about non-competes?

The rules are in Article 9 of Chapter 1 of Title 8, enacted by Act 2015-465, which repealed the old section 8-1-1 effective January 1, 2016. Section 8-1-190(a) states the default: "Every contract by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind otherwise than is provided by this section is to that extent void." Subsection (b) then allows six kinds of contract "to preserve a protectable interest":

Three things are missing from that list that recruiters often assume are there. There is no salary threshold, no rule that the covenant be delivered days before the offer, and no general carve-out for hourly workers. The levers in Alabama are the protectable interest, the presumptions and the formalities.

What counts as a protectable interest in Alabama?

Section 8-1-191 lists them: trade secrets as defined in the Alabama Trade Secrets Act (section 8-27-2); confidential information such as pricing, compensation, customer lists and data, business plans and company files; commercial relationships or contacts with specific prospective or existing customers, patients, vendors or clients; customer, patient, vendor or client goodwill tied to an ongoing business or a specific marketing or trade area; and "specialized and unique training involving substantial business expenditure" directed at the employee, but only if that training "is specifically set forth in writing as the consideration for the restraint."

Subsection (b) adds a line worth repeating to clients: "Job skills in and of themselves, without more, are not protectable interests." A covenant that protects nothing but the general know-how of a trade is outside the statute.

What formalities does Alabama require?

• Writing, signatures and consideration. Under section 8-1-192, a contract under the article must be "reduced to writing, signed by all parties, and be supported by adequate consideration." A covenant the employer never signed is a fact counsel will want to know about.
• Burden of proof. Under section 8-1-194, the party seeking enforcement has the burden on every element; the worker carries the burden of proving undue hardship if they raise it.
• Remedies. Section 8-1-195 allows injunctions for actual or threatened breach, actual damages or lawful liquidated damages, and attorney's fees or costs if the contract or other law provides for them.
• Alabama policy over other states' law. Section 8-1-197 declares the article a "fundamental public policy" and says it applies instead of foreign law where that law would violate it. A choice-of-law clause naming another state does not settle the question.

What happens if an Alabama non-compete is too broad?

Section 8-1-193 gives the court two options. If a restraint "is overly broad or unreasonable in its duration, a court may void the restraint in part and reform it to preserve the protectable interest or interests." If the restraint does not fall within the exceptions in section 8-1-190(b) at all, "a court may void the restraint in its entirety."

Example only: a Birmingham account executive signed a three-year, statewide non-compete with access to customer pricing. Three years is past the two-year presumption, so the employer loses the benefit of it, but a court could still reform the clause to a shorter period and the counties the executive actually covered. The candidate would then be bound more narrowly, not freed. That is why "it looks too long" is not an answer to give a client.

Which workers get special treatment in Alabama?

Section 8-1-196 says: "Nothing in this article shall be construed to eliminate any professional exemption recognized by Alabama law." The exemption comes from case law rather than a list in the statute. In Odess v. Taylor (1968), the Alabama Supreme Court treated a physician's covenant as outside the statute's employee exception because medicine is a profession. Which occupations qualify is a fact-specific legal question, so a healthcare or professional-services recruiter should flag the license and let counsel decide.

As of October 2026, Alabama has no statute aimed at broadcasters, technology workers, security guards or low-wage employees of the kind found in some other states. The section histories on the Legislature's site list only Act 2015-465.

Alabama non-compete rules at a glance

What should a recruiter ask an Alabama candidate?

Ask the same restrictive-agreement question of every candidate for the role, early in the phone screen, and record facts only. Alabama does not ban salary history questions, but section 25-1-30(c) bars refusing to interview or hire someone because they do not provide it; see the Alabama salary history guide. You do not need pay to analyze an Alabama covenant, so leave it out of this conversation.

ALABAMA CANDIDATE — restrictive agreements

1. "Have you signed a non-compete, a customer non-solicit, or a
    confidentiality agreement with your current or a past employer?"
2. "How long does it last after you leave, and what area or which
    customers does it cover?"
3. "When did you sign it? Before or after January 1, 2016?"
4. "Did both you and the employer sign it, and was it tied to
    anything specific: training, a bonus, payments after you leave,
    the sale of a business?"
5. "Do you hold a professional license, such as a medical license?"
6. "Does it name which state's law applies or where disputes go?"
Always: "We don't want any confidential information, documents or
customer lists from your current employer."

• Do not say "two years is the limit in Alabama." Two years is a presumption of reasonableness, not a cap, and a court may reform a longer clause rather than void it.
• Do not ask the candidate to describe their employer's customers or pricing in detail; those are the protectable interests the statute names.
• Do record "18-month customer non-solicit, Huntsville accounts, signed 2022, employer signed" rather than "probably fine."

What is the risk to the hiring company?

Section 8-1-195 allows an injunction for a "threatened" breach as well as an actual one, so a former employer does not have to wait until the new hire calls a customer. A court that reforms an overbroad clause can still enforce the narrower version, which can keep a new hire off certain accounts or territory after the start date. Former employers sometimes also name the new employer, for example claiming it interfered with the contract or received trade secrets; how that plays out depends on what the new employer knew and did, which is a question for its counsel.

Steps that lower the risk: tell the client about the covenant before final interviews, let its counsel review the agreement before the offer, scope the first months of the role away from restricted customers or territory where possible, and say again at the offer that the company wants no confidential information. The offer call script is the place to confirm it.

Has Alabama changed its non-compete law recently?

No. As of October 2026, the history notes on sections 8-1-190 to 8-1-197 on the Legislature's site cite only Act 2015-465, and the former section 8-1-1 is shown as "Repealed by Act 2015-465 effective January 1, 2016." For covenants signed before that date, which version of the law applies is a question for counsel, which is one more reason to record the signing date. Check the section pages again after the 2027 regular session before relying on this summary.

Where does the federal FTC rule stand?

It does not apply. A federal court set aside the FTC's 2024 rule; on September 5, 2025 the Commission voted 3-1 to dismiss its appeals and accede to the vacatur, and a February 12, 2026 Federal Register notice removed it from the Code of Federal Regulations. The FTC still brings case-by-case actions, such as its April 15, 2026 proposed order against Rollins, Inc. Alabama law governs Alabama covenants.

Staffing agencies and their own agreements

Section 8-1-190(b)(1) matters to agencies in a way most state laws do not. It allows a contract between businesses "limiting their ability to hire or employ" each other's employees only where the employee "holds a position uniquely essential to the management, organization, or service of the business." A client agreement that bars the client from hiring any of your contractors, or bars you from recruiting any of the client's staff, should be checked against that wording with counsel; a clause written as a conversion fee rather than a hiring ban raises different questions, covered in temp-to-perm conversion fee and no-poach agreements and antitrust law.

When your agency asks its own recruiters to sign a non-compete or customer non-solicit, the same statute applies to you as the employer. For registration and hiring basics, see the Alabama staffing agency license guide, hiring employees in Alabama and E-Verify requirements in Alabama. If you record screening calls, check the Alabama recording consent guide first.

An Alabama checklist

• Restrictive-agreement question asked of every candidate, in the same words.
• Facts recorded: type, length, area or customers, signing date, who signed, what it was tied to, governing-law clause.
• Licensed professionals flagged for counsel under the professional exemption.
• No opinion on enforceability given; candidate pointed to their own lawyer.
• Hiring company told before final interviews; counsel reviews before the offer.
• Client no-hire and conversion clauses checked against section 8-1-190(b)(1).
• "No confidential information" said at the screen and again at the offer.