Louisiana non-compete law: La. R.S. 23:921 for recruiters

Louisiana starts from the rule that a non-compete is void, then lists the exceptions that make one valid. For an ordinary employee, La. R.S. 23:921 allows an agreement not to compete with the employer or solicit its customers only within named parishes or municipalities where the employer carries on a like business, and for no more than two years after the job ends. As of October 2026, two recent laws narrow it further: physicians have had separate time and parish limits since January 1, 2025, and non-competes with interns and apprentices have been barred since August 1, 2026. For a recruiter, the Louisiana questions are concrete: which parishes the agreement names, when the candidate left, and which state's law the agreement claims to follow.

This is the Louisiana page in our state series. The general screening questions are in non-compete questions for candidates, the agency-side clauses are in non-solicitation clauses for recruiters, and the rest of the state's hiring rules are in hiring employees in Louisiana.

What does La. R.S. 23:921 allow?

Subsection A(1) sets the default: "Every contract or agreement, or provision thereof, by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind, except as provided in this Section, shall be null and void." Everything else in the section is an exception, and each has its own limits.

Louisiana has no salary threshold and no advance-notice period of the kind Colorado or Maine use. The limits are about who signed, where the restriction applies and how long it runs.

How strictly do Louisiana courts read these agreements?

Strictly. In Action Revenue Recovery v. eBusiness Group (La. App. 2 Cir. 2009), the Second Circuit Court of Appeal repeated that noncompetition agreements "must be strictly construed against the party seeking their enforcement," citing the Louisiana Supreme Court's 2001 decision in SWAT 24 Shreveport Bossier v. Bond. The agreement in that case said it applied to all parishes or counties where the employer did business, without naming them. The court held that "the absence of the required geographic limitation is fatal" and found the agreement invalid. A second agreement that did list parishes failed for a simpler reason: the employee never signed it.

The practical lesson for a recruiter is that the wording matters more in Louisiana than the general idea of a non-compete. "All areas where the company does business" is a different document from "Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes," and only counsel reading the actual text can say which one the candidate signed.

What changed for physicians on January 1, 2025?

Act 273 of the 2024 Regular Session (SB 165) added subsections M, N and O, effective January 1, 2025:

• Primary care physicians (those who predominantly practice general family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general obstetrics or general gynecology): a restriction may not exceed three years from the effective date of the initial contract, and any later contract with the same employer may not include a non-compete.
• Other physicians: the same structure with a five-year limit.
• After termination: the restriction is limited to the parish of the physician's principal practice and no more than two contiguous parishes where the employer carries on a like business, named in the contract, for no more than two years.
• Existing contracts: Section 2 of the act says that for contracts already in force on January 1, 2025, the three- or five-year term starts on that date and the geographic limits apply from that date.
• Exceptions: physicians employed by or under contract with a rural hospital under the Rural Hospital Preservation Act, or with certain federally qualified health centers in rural parishes, stay under the general rules in subsections C, J, K and L.

What changed for interns and apprentices in 2026?

HB 315, signed on May 15, 2026 as Act 150 and effective August 1, 2026, added subsection P. It bars any contract or provision restraining an intern, "whether paid or unpaid," or an apprentice from engaging in a business or employment similar to the employer's, and says the agreement may not restrict the intern or apprentice from pursuing employment, educational or professional opportunities after the program ends. Interns and apprentices remain bound by the employer's confidentiality, intellectual property and data protection agreements. The act defines "intern" narrowly, as a student learner in an internship regulated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's work-based learning rule, so a college or graduate internship may not fit that definition; ask counsel before relying on it for a campus hire. When we checked in October 2026, the Legislature's online text of R.S. 23:921 still ended at subsection O, with Act 273 of 2024 as its latest history entry, so read subsection P in Act 150 itself.

Can a Louisiana employee's agreement choose another state's law?

Usually not. Under R.S. 23:921(A)(2), a choice of forum or choice of law clause in an employment contract is null and void, and so is any attempt to enforce one against an employee, unless the employee "expressly, knowingly, and voluntarily agreed to and ratified" it after the occurrence of the incident that is the subject of the lawsuit. A Louisiana candidate whose agreement names Texas or Delaware law is therefore in a different position from a candidate in most states. The former employer may still file somewhere, so tell the hiring company about the clause rather than dismissing it.

What is the risk to the hiring company?

• An injunction against the candidate. Subsection H treats a valid covenant as an obligation not to do something. On proof of a breach, a court "shall order injunctive relief enforcing the terms of the agreement" without the former employer having to prove irreparable injury, and damages, including lost profits, are also available.
• Interference claims are narrow. The Louisiana Supreme Court recognized tortious interference with contract in 9 to 5 Fashions v. Spurney (1989), but in a limited form; the Fifth Circuit, applying Louisiana law in SMP Sales Management v. Fleet Credit (1992), noted that the court "did not adopt the fully expanded common law doctrine of interference with contract."
• Unfair trade practice and confidentiality claims. In Action Revenue Recovery, the former employer also pleaded unfair trade practices under La. R.S. 51:1405. The court said an employee without a valid restrictive agreement can go to work for a competitor, but "may not use confidential information acquired by her from her previous employer." Files and client lists are where a new employer's own exposure starts.

What should a recruiter ask a Louisiana candidate?

Ask the same restrictive-agreement question of everyone for the role, early, and record facts only.

LOUISIANA 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. "Does it name specific parishes or cities, or does it say
    something general like 'wherever the company does business'?"
3. "How long does it run, and from what date: when you leave, or
    from the start of your contract?"
4. "Were you an employee, or an independent contractor on a written
    contract? When did you last do work under it?"
5. "Does it say another state's law applies, or where disputes go?"
6. "Is your work in medicine, or did you sign it as an intern or
    apprentice?"
7. "Could the hiring company's lawyer see it, as far as it allows?"
Always: "We don't want any confidential information, documents or
client lists from your current employer."

• Do not tell the candidate the agreement is void because the parishes look wrong. Pass the facts on.
• Do not ask for documents the agreement says are confidential, or for detail on the employer's customers.
• Do not schedule a start date that assumes the agreement fails. Let the client's counsel decide first.

When your client is the Louisiana employer

The same section governs the client's own offer paperwork. A covenant that does not name parishes or municipalities, runs longer than two years, or points disputes to another state's courts is exposed under the rules above, and since August 1, 2026 an intern or apprentice offer should not carry a non-compete at all. Physician offers need the subsection M or N limits. Raise these before the offer goes out; the offer call script is the place to confirm what the candidate will be asked to sign.

Staffing firms have a Louisiana-specific point of their own. Subsection C reaches independent contractors on a written contract, with the two years measured from the last work performed. If your firm places 1099 contractors and its contractor agreement includes a restriction, it is measured that way. Licensing for the agency itself is covered in the Louisiana staffing agency license guide.

Is there a federal non-compete rule that changes this?

No. The FTC's 2024 Non-Compete Clause Rule was set aside by a federal court, and on September 5, 2025 the Commission voted 3-1 to dismiss its appeals and accept that result. A February 12, 2026 Federal Register notice removed the rule from the Code of Federal Regulations. Louisiana law governs, as of October 2026. For how other states compare, see our Colorado and California pages.

Louisiana checklist

• Restrictive-agreement question asked of every candidate for the role, in the same words.
• Recorded: type of agreement, parishes or municipalities named, length, start of the clock, governing-law clause.
• Employee or written independent contractor, and the date of the last work performed.
• Physician, intern and apprentice roles flagged for subsections M, N and P.
• No opinion given on enforceability; the candidate pointed to their own lawyer.
• Client's own covenant checked for named parishes, two-year limit and no out-of-state forum clause.
• "No confidential information" said at the screen and again at the offer.
• Statute re-checked on the Legislature's site before relying on this page; subsection P is only months old.