An NDA restricts what you can share — it keeps defined information confidential. A non-compete restricts where you can work — it bars you from competing for a time. They’re separate promises: an NDA is widely enforceable and usually survives; a non-compete is heavily limited or banned in several states and struck down when overbroad. Don’t assume one falls with the other. A non-solicit (no poaching) is a third, distinct restriction.
They get lumped together, but they restrict completely different things. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) governs information: you agree to keep defined confidential material secret and not use it outside the relationship. A non-compete governs your ability to work: for some period and area, you agree not to take a competing job or start a competing business. That difference drives everything, including enforceability. NDAs are widely enforceable and, for trade secrets, can last indefinitely — they’re rarely the fight. Non-competes are the opposite: several states (California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and others) void most employee non-competes outright, and even states that enforce them will strike ones that are too broad in time, geography, or the activity they restrict. A signature doesn’t make an unenforceable non-compete enforceable. The trap people fall into is assuming the two rise and fall together — that if the non-compete is void, they’re free of everything, or that signing an “NDA” didn’t also commit them not to compete. Read them as separate clauses with separate rules. And watch for a third cousin often bundled in: the non-solicitation clause, which bars you from poaching clients or coworkers. Non-solicits survive in many states where a non-compete wouldn’t, so don’t assume it disappears with the non-compete either. This is general information, not legal advice — enforceability turns on your state and the exact wording.
No. An NDA restricts sharing confidential information; a non-compete restricts working for competitors. You can be bound by one and not the other, and they’re judged under different rules — NDAs are widely enforceable, non-competes often aren’t.
It depends on your state and the wording. Several states void most employee non-competes, and courts elsewhere strike ones that are overbroad in time, area, or activity. A signature alone doesn’t make an unenforceable non-compete enforceable.
A separate promise not to poach the company’s clients or employees after you leave. It’s narrower than a non-compete and survives in many states where a non-compete would be struck — so it’s worth reading on its own terms.
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