The Florida CHOICE Act: What Florida Workers Need to Know Before July 2025
Are you making a good salary in Florida? Your ability to change jobs or advance your career is about to be severely limited. Passed by both the Florida House and Senate on April 24 and expected to be signed by Governor DeSantis, the new Florida “CHOICE Act” will make it much harder – and potentially very expensive – for you to leave your job for better opportunities. If passed, starting July 1, 2025, tech workers, financial professionals, marketing executives, sales directors, and managers across industries could find themselves trapped in their current positions or forced to hire attorneys costing thousands of dollars just to fight for the right to work elsewhere. While legal challenges to this law are likely, you need to understand right now how this might affect your future livelihood and career options in Florida.
Who Should Worry About This Law?
Florida’s new non-compete law targets “covered employees” – specifically:
- Workers earning more than 2X the average mean wage in the Florida county where the employer’s principal place of business is located
- Those who are NOT healthcare practitioners
If you meet these criteria, you could find yourself stuck to restrictive agreements lasting up to 4 years. This means well-compensated professionals across industries including technology, finance, sales, management, and other specialized fields are at highest risk.
Unlike many states that are limiting non-compete agreements, Florida is moving in the opposite direction. While many other state regulatory efforts seek to curb non-compete agreements, the CHOICE Act creates a presumption that “covered” non-compete agreements and garden leave provisions are enforceable and do not violate public policy.
What Does the Law Actually Do?
The CHOICE Act introduces two particularly restrictive types of employment agreements:Garden Leave Agreements
These agreements effectively hold your career hostage by:- Requiring up to 4 YEARS notice before you can leave your job
- Continuing your salary and benefits during this period
- Potentially allowing you to stop working after 90 days, but still preventing you from working elsewhere, without express written permission from your former employer
- Giving employers the power to reduce the notice period for any reason with a mere 30 days’ written notice
The law also allows employers to reduce or eliminate your garden leave compensation if they claim you engaged in ‘gross misconduct.’ This creates another risk – you could be accused of misconduct, lose your income, yet still be legally prevented from working elsewhere.
Enhanced Non-Compete Agreements
These agreements severely limit your career options by:- Preventing you from working for competitors for up to 4 years after leaving
- Restricting geographically where you can work
- Limiting you from performing similar work to what you did previously
- Potentially forcing you to relocate, change careers, or remain unemployed
Unlike garden leave agreements, the law doesn’t clearly require employers to pay you during non-compete periods. You could be barred from your profession for years without compensation from your former employer.
Most concerning, courts MUST issue preliminary injunctions to stop you from working elsewhere if your employer alleges a breach of either agreement. The burden falls on you to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” (a high legal standard) that you should be allowed to work – a process that typically requires lengthy and costly legal representation.
Why Is This Such a Big Deal?
The CHOICE Act does not just hurt you – it creates a system where both current and potential employers hold all the cards:
The Real Costs to You:
- Significant legal fees to fight these agreements which can be stifling
- Lost income if you’re forced to take a lower-paying job in a different field
- Potential need to relocate out of Florida to escape restrictions
- Career stagnation while competitors advance during your “sideline” period
Even if you’re terminated for any reason, you could still be trapped. The law is silent on what happens if your employer terminates you. Unlike some states that void non-competes for terminated employees, this law could leave you both jobless AND unable to work in your field for years.
Tech Industry:
Silicon Valley has thrived partly because California bans non-competes. In contrast, Florida tech workers could be prevented from joining startups or competitors for four years – an eternity in the fast-moving tech world. Imagine being a software developer specializing in AI and being unable to work in your field until the technology has evolved through multiple generations.
Financial Services:
Financial advisors who build client relationships over years could be barred from taking those relationships to a new firm, effectively resetting their careers. Wealth managers who leave a firm might be forced to abandon their entire client base and start from scratch.
Sales Professionals:
High-earning sales executives who have developed industry relationships over decades could suddenly find those relationships off-limits. A medical device sales director with specialized knowledge might be forced to switch to an entirely different industry despite years of expertise.
Corporate Executives:
C-suite executives could face the difficult choice of staying in unfulfilling roles or being locked out of their industries for years. Marketing directors might be forced to turn down dream opportunities because their current employer can legally prevent them from working for a competitor.
Important to note, it is unclear whether the CHOICE Act replaces Florida’s existing non-compete law (Florida Statute 542.335). That law may also still remain in effect and govern restrictive covenants that do not fall within the requirements of Florida’s new non-compete law. Currently, Florida’s law governing non-competes presumes a noncompete that protects a legitimate business interest for up to 2 years is enforceable. Thus, Employers will now potentially have two bites at the apple to enforce non-competes.