Page 68 - Akerman | 2016 Guide to Doing Business in Florida

6.3.5 Florida Non-Compete Statute.

Florida’s non-compete statute allows for the enforcement of non-compete agreements under
the following circumstances: (1) the agreement must be in writing; (2) the agreement must be
reasonable in time and geographic scope; and (3) the agreement must be reasonably
necessary to protect one or more statutorily-defined legitimate business interests.

Florida courts will presume a restrictive covenant six months or less in duration to be
reasonable and more than two years in duration to be unreasonable unless the restrictive
covenant is applicable to the seller of a business, in which case a duration of less than three
years is presumptively enforceable and greater than seven years is presumptively
unenforceable.

Florida courts will presume a restrictive covenant regarding the use and disclosure of trade
secrets five years or less to be reasonable and more than 10 years to be unreasonable,
however, trade secrets may additionally be further protected pursuant to Florida Statutes
Chapter 688 (for further discussion, see Section 7.2.5 of this Guide [State of Florida Uniform
Trade Secrets Act]).

Protected interests under the Florida non-compete statute include, but are not limited to: (1)
trade secrets; (2) valuable confidential business or professional information that otherwise does
not qualify as trade secrets; (3) substantial relationships with specific prospective or existing
customers, patients, or clients; (4) customer, patient, or client goodwill associated with an
ongoing business/practice, a specific geographic area, or a specific marketing/trade area; and
extraordinary or specialized training.

6.3.6 Preservation and Protection of Right to Keep and Bear Arms in
Motor Vehicles Act (“Florida Gun Law”).
With limited exceptions, Florida employers may not: (1) prohibit an employee with a concealed-
carry permit from securing a gun in a vehicle in the employer’s parking lot; (2) ask an employee
with a concealed carry permit whether he or she has a gun in a vehicle in the parking lot, take
any action against that employee based on statements about whether the employee has a gun
in a vehicle in the parking lot for lawful purposes, or search a vehicle in the parking lot for a gun;
(3) condition employment on whether a person has a concealed-carry permit; or (4) terminate
an employee with a concealed-carry permit, or otherwise discriminate against that employee for
having a gun in a vehicle on the business’s property, unless the gun is exhibited on the
property. This law applies to all Florida employers.

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