A term restricting where you can work after you leave a job.
A non-compete limits your ability to work for competitors or start a rival business for a set time and area after leaving. Enforceability varies enormously by state — some void them entirely — and overly broad ones are often narrowed or struck down. Time, geography, and scope all matter.
“Employee shall not work for any competitor anywhere for 3 years” is far more likely to be unenforceable than a narrow, local 6-month restriction.
Main AI reads your actual contract, lease, or notice and flags exactly where terms like these put you at risk — in plain language, with the law behind it.
Analyze my document free →Courts weigh three dials: duration (6–12 months is commonly defensible; multi-year terms draw scrutiny), geography (a radius tied to where you actually worked vs. 'worldwide'), and scope (your specific role vs. the entire industry). Several states — California most famously — refuse to enforce most employment non-competes at all, and the enforceability landscape has shifted repeatedly, so the state named in the governing-law clause matters as much as the restriction itself. In your document, also check what triggers it (any departure vs. only resignation), whether you're paid during the restricted period, and whether it's bundled with non-solicitation — which usually survives even where non-competes fail.
See this clause in your own document: run a free analysis — findings quote the exact language.