Connecticut non-compete law: health care, guard and broadcast limits for recruiters

Connecticut has no general non-compete statute, so most covenants are judged under a common-law reasonableness test from Scott v. General Iron & Welding Co. (1976). The legislature has carved out specific groups: covenants with physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses are capped at one year and 15 miles and fall away if the employer ends the job without cause; security guards and broadcast employees are protected by statutes from 2007; and covenants restricting companion, homemaker and home health workers are void. A broader ban, HB 5492, stalled in the 2026 session. That is the law as of October 2026.

For a recruiter, Connecticut means two different screens: a reasonableness question for most candidates, and a rules question for the protected groups, where dates and license types decide the answer. 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 Connecticut law say about most non-competes?

For a candidate outside the protected groups below, no statute sets a salary threshold, a notice period or a maximum length. Courts apply the five factors the Connecticut Supreme Court set out in Scott v. General Iron & Welding Co. (1976):

1. the length of time the restriction operates;
2. the geographical area it covers;
3. the fairness of the protection it gives the employer;
4. the extent of the restraint on the employee's opportunity to pursue an occupation; and
5. the extent of interference with the public's interests.

The factors are weighed together, so no single number is safe. A twelve-month restriction limited to customers a salesperson handled sits differently from a two-year ban on working for any competitor in New England. Whether a court will trim an overbroad clause or refuse it entirely is a question for counsel; no Connecticut statute directs courts to rewrite a general covenant.

What are the rules for physicians, PAs and APRNs?

Three nearly parallel sections cover licensed clinicians: section 20-14p (physicians, added by P.A. 16-95 and amended by P.A. 23-97), section 20-12k (physician assistants) and section 20-101d (advanced practice registered nurses), both added by P.A. 23-97.

The rest of an agreement survives when the covenant fails, including provisions on damages for termination. For a healthcare recruiter, the facts that matter are the license, the dates the covenant was signed or renewed, whether it was separately signed, the primary practice site, and how the current job is ending.

Which other Connecticut workers are protected?

• Security guards. Section 31-50a bars an employer from requiring a security guard (Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation 33-9032) to agree not to do the same or a similar job at the same location for another employer or as self-employed, unless the employer proves the guard obtained its trade secrets. It applies to agreements entered into, renewed or extended on or after October 1, 2007. This is the rule that matters when a client changes security contractors and wants to keep the guards.
• Broadcast employees. Section 31-50b bars broadcast industry employers from requiring a broadcast employee (other than those primarily in sales or management) to stay out of an area for a period after leaving, to disclose other stations' offers after the contract expires, or to match a competing offer. It applies to contracts from July 1, 2007, and allows damages, costs and attorney's fees.
• Companion, homemaker and home health workers. Section 20-681 says "Any covenant not to compete is against public policy and shall be void and unenforceable," using the chapter's definition of a covenant restricting an individual from providing companion, home health or homemaker services in any area, for any time, or to a specific individual.

Connecticut non-compete rules at a glance

What should a recruiter ask a Connecticut candidate?

Ask the same restrictive-agreement question of every candidate for the role, early in the phone screen, and record facts only. Do not ask about current or past pay while you are on the subject; Connecticut's salary history ban applies to recruiters acting for an employer, as the Connecticut salary history ban guide explains.

CONNECTICUT CANDIDATE — restrictive agreements

1. "Have you signed a non-compete, a customer or employee 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, customers or
    work does it cover?"
3. "When was it signed, and has it been renewed or amended since?"
4. Clinicians: "Which license do you hold, was the covenant signed as
    a separate document, and where is your primary practice site?"
5. "Is your current job ending because you are leaving, because the
    contract is expiring, or because the employer ended it?"
6. "Do you work as a security guard, in broadcasting, or in home care?"
Always: "We don't want any confidential information, documents or
client lists from your current employer."

• Do not say "Connecticut doesn't allow non-competes." For most workers it does, if reasonable.
• Do not ask why a clinician's job is ending in a way that invites detail about performance. Record the category (resignation, non-renewal, termination) and let counsel ask the rest.
• Do record "APRN, 12-month, 10 miles from Hartford clinic, separately signed, renewed November 2024, employer not renewing" rather than "probably unenforceable."

What is the risk to the hiring company?

Outside the protected groups, a former employer that persuades a court the restriction is reasonable can get an injunction keeping the new hire away from customers, territory or work for the covenant's term. 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. For clinicians, the statutes shift the burden to the party enforcing the covenant and make several common situations unenforceable, but only if the dates and facts line up, which is why they need recording precisely.

Practical steps: tell the client before final interviews, let its counsel review the agreement before the offer, scope the first months of the role around restricted customers where possible, and repeat at the offer that the company wants no confidential information. The offer call script is the place to confirm it.

What changed recently, and what is pending?

The last change to the statutes above was P.A. 23-97, effective July 1, 2023, which added the PA and APRN sections and the material-pay-change rule for covenants from October 1, 2023. In 2026, HB 5492, described on its bill page as a bill "to prohibit the use of noncompete agreements and exclusivity agreements unless they meet certain criteria," was reported favorably by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and placed on the House calendar on April 2, 2026. The bill history shows no further action, and the 2026 regular session has ended, so it is not law. A similar bill could return in 2027.

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. Connecticut law governs Connecticut covenants.

Staffing agencies and their own agreements

Home care staffing has a Connecticut-specific rule. Section 20-683 voids any "no-hire clause" in a contract between a homemaker-companion agency and a client, defined to include a financial penalty, any charges or fees, or language that could ground a claim "against the client for directly hiring an employee of such agency." A conversion fee in a home care client contract is therefore void. For other industries, see temp-to-perm conversion fee and no-poach agreements and antitrust law.

Connecticut licenses or registers many recruiting firms; see the Connecticut staffing agency license guide and hiring employees in Connecticut. From October 1, 2026, postings need a wage range under the Connecticut pay transparency law; criminal history questions are limited by Connecticut ban-the-box; drug testing follows the Connecticut drug testing rules; and there is no state E-Verify mandate (E-Verify in Connecticut). If you record calls, read the Connecticut recording consent guide.

A Connecticut checklist

• Restrictive-agreement question asked of every candidate, in the same words.
• Facts recorded: type, length, area, signing and renewal dates, separate signature, how the job is ending.
• Clinicians, guards, broadcast and home care candidates flagged for the statutory rules.
• No pay questions; no opinion on enforceability.
• Hiring company told before final interviews; counsel reviews before the offer.
• Home care client contracts checked for no-hire or conversion clauses under section 20-683.
• "No confidential information" said at the screen and again at the offer.