D.C. has one of the most restrictive non-compete frameworks in the country, and most employers in the District are still operating with employment templates that do not reflect the current rules. The Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 was scaled back significantly through the Non-Compete Clarification Amendment Act of 2022, which Mayor Muriel Bowser signed on July 27, 2022, and which took effect October 1, 2022. As of 2026, the law has been operational for more than three years, and any D.C. employer that has not updated its non-compete templates, notice procedures, and policy documents since the original transition deadline is exposing itself to enforcement risk that a Washington DC business law attorney would identify in any compliance review. The framework is genuinely employer-friendly compared to the 2020 version, but it is still strict enough that compliance requires deliberate attention.
What the Amendment Actually Does
The 2022 amendment preserved the core prohibition of the 2020 act while creating a meaningful exception for highly compensated employees. The current framework, codified at D.C. Official Code § 32-581.01 et seq., works as follows.
Non-compete provisions in agreements entered into on or after October 1, 2022 are void and unenforceable for “covered employees” who are not highly compensated. Covered employees are those who either spend more than half of their work time in D.C., or are based in D.C. and spend a substantial amount of work time in the District without spending more than half their time in another jurisdiction. A D.C. employer cannot ask a covered employee at this level to sign a non-compete, and any such agreement is automatically void.
Highly compensated employees can still be subject to non-compete provisions if specific requirements are met. The current threshold for highly compensated status is $150,000 in total compensation per year, with a separate $250,000 threshold for medical specialists who have completed their residency. Both thresholds are adjusted annually for the Consumer Price Index for the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area starting January 1, 2024, which means the 2026 thresholds are higher than the original $150,000 and $250,000 figures. Employers calculating eligibility against the threshold need to use the current adjusted figures rather than the original numbers that appear in much of the older guidance.
Compensation for threshold purposes includes hourly wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, overtime, vested stock and restricted stock units, and other monetary remuneration. Non-cash fringe benefits do not count toward the threshold.
Broadcast employees, defined specifically in the statute, cannot be subject to non-competes regardless of compensation level.
What a Compliant Highly Compensated Employee Non-Compete Looks Like
A non-compete provision used with a highly compensated employee on or after October 1, 2022 must contain specific elements to be valid and enforceable.
The agreement must specify the functional scope of the restriction, including the services, roles, industry, or competing entities the employee is restricted from working for or performing.
The agreement must specify the geographic scope of the restriction.
The duration cannot exceed 365 days (one year) from the date of separation for most highly compensated employees, or 730 days (two years) for medical specialists earning at least the medical specialist threshold.
The agreement must be provided to the employee at least 14 days before the first day of employment for new hires, or at least 14 days before the signing deadline for current employees being asked to sign.
The agreement must be accompanied by a specific statutorily required notice that informs the employee about the framework of the law and identifies the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services as the source of additional information. The notice language is prescribed by the statute and must be provided verbatim.
Any non-compete that fails any of these requirements is void and unenforceable, regardless of how the employer characterized the agreement.
What the Law Does Not Restrict
The 2022 amendment preserved several categories of restrictive covenants and workplace policies that remain available to employers.
Non-disclosure and confidentiality provisions remain enforceable. Employers can prohibit employees from disclosing confidential and proprietary information during and after employment.
Non-solicitation agreements covering customers, clients, employees, or contractors are not directly addressed by the statute and appear to remain available to employers, subject to the general reasonableness standards that apply to restrictive covenants.
Conflict of interest policies that restrict employees from engaging in outside work that conflicts with the employer’s business or violates industry rules remain permissible, with specific notice obligations.
Anti-moonlighting policies that prohibit employees from engaging in outside work that would disclose confidential information or create conflicts of interest are permitted, again subject to the notice requirements.
Non-competes contained in agreements between buyers and sellers of businesses are exempt from the ban and continue to be governed by D.C.’s general contract enforceability principles.
Long-term incentive agreements that contain non-compete provisions tied to vesting or forfeiture conditions for highly compensated employees are permitted under specific circumstances.
The carve-outs matter because employers who lose the ability to use non-competes for non-highly-compensated employees can still protect legitimate business interests through these alternative tools, properly drafted.
What the Notice Requirements Actually Require
A frequently overlooked compliance gap involves the notice requirements for workplace policies that contain non-compete-style restrictions even when they are not technically non-competes. Employers with anti-moonlighting policies, conflict of interest policies, or confidentiality policies that affect outside employment must provide written notice of those policies to D.C. employees.
The notice must be provided within 30 days of an employee accepting employment. The notice must be provided again any time the policy changes. For employers who had policies in place when the law took effect on October 1, 2022, the notice was required within 30 days of that date.
Employers who never satisfied the original transition notice obligation, and who have not provided notice to current employees about existing policies, are technically out of compliance even if their underlying policies are otherwise lawful.
Penalties and Enforcement Under the 2022 Amendment
The Mayor and D.C. Attorney General are authorized to enforce the law. Administrative penalties range from $350 to $1,000 per violation, with separate penalty floors of at least $1,000 for retaliation violations. Penalties increase for repeat violations.
Employees may also pursue private remedies through administrative complaints with the Mayor or civil actions in court. Recovery for affected employees ranges from $250 to $2,500 per violation, with at least $3,000 available for certain subsequent violations.
The penalty structure looks modest until the per-violation calculation is multiplied across multiple non-compliant agreements or notice failures across a workforce. Aggregate exposure can become substantial for employers with significant D.C. operations.
What D.C. Employers Should Be Doing in 2026
Several specific compliance steps are warranted for any employer that has not deliberately reviewed its non-compete posture since the law took effect.
Audit existing employment agreement templates and offer letters. Templates that have not been updated since before October 1, 2022 likely contain non-compete language that is unenforceable for non-highly-compensated employees and may not satisfy the specific content requirements for highly compensated employees.
Verify the current compensation threshold against the most recent CPI adjustment. Employees who fell above the original $150,000 threshold in 2022 may not satisfy the higher 2026 threshold without compensation adjustments, which affects whether a non-compete signed several years ago remains supportable.
Review notice compliance for workplace policies. Employers with anti-moonlighting, conflict of interest, or confidentiality policies that affect employees’ ability to work for other employers must have provided the required written notice within 30 days of acceptance of employment for all current employees.
Restructure employment agreements for non-highly-compensated employees to use the alternative tools that remain available: properly drafted non-disclosure agreements, non-solicitation provisions, and confidentiality policies with appropriate notice.
Working with a Washington DC business law attorney such as those at The Mundaca Law Firm, with offices in Washington D.C. and the surrounding region, on a non-compete and restrictive covenant audit typically produces template agreements and policies that comply with the current framework while preserving the protections that remain available to employers.
The Short Version
D.C.’s non-compete framework permits non-competes only for highly compensated employees earning above CPI-adjusted thresholds, with strict content, notice, and duration requirements that most pre-2022 employment templates do not satisfy. Non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and conflict of interest policies remain available for broader employee populations. For D.C. employers reviewing their compliance posture in 2026, a Washington DC business law attorney can audit existing agreements, identify exposure, and replace prohibited provisions with the protections that remain enforceable under current law.
