Are Non-Competes Enforceable in Arkansas? Your Rights Explained

For most Arkansas workers, yes: non-compete agreements are generally enforceable, but only when they meet the standards in Act 921 of 2015, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated section 4-75-101. Under that statute, a non-compete is valid only if your employer has a genuine protectable business interest and the restriction is limited in time and scope to no more than is necessary to protect that interest. But the statute itself creates two large carve-outs, and they decide the question outright for a lot of people. If you are a physician, your non-compete is void under a 2025 amendment. And if you hold any license in Arkansas's medical-professions subtitle -- nurses, dentists, pharmacists, chiropractors and the like -- the entire Act 921 framework described below does not apply to you at all. Read the carve-outs first.

Physicians: Your Non-Compete Is Void by Statute

In 2025, the General Assembly passed Act 232 (SB 139), which added subsection (k) to section 4-75-101. Its operative sentence is one line: a covenant not to compete that restricts the right of a physician to practice within the physician's scope of practice is void. Not "unenforceable if unreasonable" -- void.

The statute defines who counts. "Physician" means a person authorized or licensed to practice medicine under the Arkansas Medical Practices Act (sections 17-95-201, 17-95-301, and 17-95-401 et seq.), and a person authorized to practice osteopathy under section 17-91-101 et seq. So MDs and DOs are covered. The Governor approved Act 232 on March 4, 2025. If you signed a non-compete as an Arkansas physician and someone is now telling you a court will "reform it and enforce it," that advice is describing the law as it stood before this amendment. You can read the strike-and-underline bill text to see exactly which words the legislature added.

Medical-Profession Licensees Are Outside the Statute Entirely

Separately -- and this predates the 2025 amendment -- section 4-75-101(j)(2) says the section does not apply to a person holding a professional license under Arkansas Code Title 17, Subtitle 3. Subtitle 3 is the Medical Professions subtitle. It is the subtitle that contains, among others, Chapter 87, the Nurse Practice Act, which the Arkansas Department of Health publishes with the caption "A.C.A. Tit. 17, Subtit. 3., Ch. 87."

The practical consequence matters, and it cuts in the worker's favor: if you are a medical-professions licensee, none of the statutory rules below reach your agreement. Not the two-year presumption. Not the rule that a missing geographic limit is fine. And, importantly, not the mandatory-reformation rule. Your covenant is judged under Arkansas common law, and pre-2015 Arkansas common law took the strict "all or nothing" approach: an overbroad covenant was generally struck down, not rewritten to save it. Do not assume a court will narrow-and-enforce your agreement the way it would for a worker inside the statute. Have an Arkansas attorney review the agreement before you conclude you are stuck with it.

Arkansas's Rule for Everyone Else

Before Act 921, Arkansas courts applied the strict all-or-nothing approach across the board. Act 921 of 2015 reversed that for employment covenants within its scope. For those agreements, the analysis turns on three questions:

• Does the employer have a protectable business interest? The statute lists examples: trade secrets, intellectual property, customer lists, goodwill with customers, knowledge of business practices, methods, profit margins, costs, other confidential business information, and the training and education the employer provided. A general desire to avoid ordinary competition is not enough.
• Is the restriction reasonable in time? A post-termination restriction of two years is presumptively reasonable, unless the facts of the case clearly show two years is unreasonable compared to the employer's protectable interest. Longer terms are not automatically void, but the employer has more to justify.
• Is the scope no greater than necessary? The restricted activities must match the interest being protected. Arkansas law expressly says the lack of a specific geographic restriction does not by itself make the covenant overly broad, so long as time and scope are no greater than necessary.

Three Statutory Rules That Work Against Workers

If your agreement is inside the statute, three provisions are worth knowing before you plan a defense, because each one forecloses a defense workers commonly reach for:

• Reformation is mandatory, not optional. Section 4-75-101(f) says that if the restrictions are found unreasonable and greater than necessary, the court shall reform the covenant to make it reasonable, and shall enforce it under the reformed terms. Within the statute's scope, "it's too broad, so the judge will throw it out" is not a strategy the statute allows. The judge is directed to narrow it and enforce what remains.
• Irreparable harm is presumed. Section 4-75-101(e)(2) says the immediate harm associated with a breach shall be considered irreparable for purposes of establishing that a preliminary injunction is appropriate. Proving irreparable harm is normally an employer's hardest lift; Arkansas hands it to them. The statute does preserve your other defenses against a preliminary-injunction claim, but not that one.
• Continued employment is enough consideration. Section 4-75-101(g) says an employee's continued employment is sufficient consideration for a non-compete. So the very common belief -- "they made me sign it two years after I was hired and gave me nothing for it, so it's void" -- is wrong in Arkansas.

Does Arkansas Ban Non-Competes for Low-Wage Workers?

No. Some states prohibit non-competes below an income threshold. Arkansas has no statutory wage threshold that exempts low-wage employees -- there is no such subsection anywhere in 4-75-101. The same reasonableness analysis applies whether you earn an hourly wage or a six-figure salary.

Your pay and role still matter to the outcome, though. A court weighing reasonableness considers the nature of the employer's protectable interest and the nature of its business. A rank-and-file employee with no access to trade secrets, key customers, or confidential information gives the employer little legitimate interest to defend, which can defeat a non-compete even without a low-wage carve-out.

The Federal Picture

There is no federal statute that broadly bans non-competes. The Federal Trade Commission's 2024 Non-Compete Clause Rule would have prohibited most non-competes nationwide, but a federal court set it aside in August 2024 before it took effect, and in September 2025 the Commission voted to dismiss its appeals and accede to the vacatur. The rule is not in force. Arkansas state law governs. Treat any claim that "non-competes are illegal everywhere now" with caution.

Wage law is a separate track and does not decide non-compete validity. For reference, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and requires overtime at one and one-half times your regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek; the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing states the Arkansas minimum wage is $11.00 per hour and applies the same overtime rule. Complying with wage law neither validates nor invalidates a non-compete.

Related Restrictions: Non-Solicitation and Confidentiality

Employers often use other restrictive covenants alongside or instead of a true non-compete, and Arkansas treats several of them under a different body of law. Section 4-75-101(i) says the statute does not reach agreements that do not concern competition or competitive work -- specifically naming agreements not to solicit, recruit, or hire employees; confidentiality agreements; nondisclosure agreements; and the general terms and conditions of employment -- and provides that existing common law standards for those agreements remain in effect.

• Employee non-solicit / no-poach, confidentiality, and NDAs. These are carved out of Act 921. The two-year presumption, the no-geography rule, and mandatory reformation do not govern them. Arkansas common law does. If you are facing a claim under one of these, do not analyze it with the statutory framework above -- the standard is different.
• Customer non-solicitation. A covenant barring you from soliciting the employer's customers does restrict competitive work, so it is generally analyzed as a covenant not to compete under the statute rather than under the (i) carve-out. It is often easier for an employer to defend than a full non-compete because it is narrower.
• Trade secrets. Section 4-75-101(j)(1) says nothing in the section impairs a party's rights under the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act (section 4-75-601 et seq.). Trade-secret law can restrict what you do with an employer's information even if you never signed a non-compete.

Also note that under 4-75-101(h), as amended in 2025, the entire section does not apply to covenants ancillary to other contractual relationships -- a sale of a business, a franchise agreement, or any agreement not tied to employment. Common law governs those.

What to Do If You Are Asked to Sign One

• Read the entire agreement before signing. Note the duration, the geographic or activity scope, and exactly what conduct is restricted after you leave.
• Ask for a copy and time to review. Arkansas has no statute giving you a right to a copy of a restrictive covenant or an advance review period -- section 4-75-101 contains no notice or delivery requirement -- so this is a request, not an entitlement. Ask anyway, in writing, and keep whatever you receive. Consider having an Arkansas employment attorney review it, especially if the restriction could limit your ability to work in your field.
• Negotiate. Terms are often negotiable, particularly the length, the geographic reach, and the definition of competing work. Narrowing the scope up front is far easier than litigating later.
• Watch for new agreements at separation. If you are asked to sign a non-compete in exchange for severance or a final bonus, understand what you are giving up before accepting. And remember that in Arkansas, continued employment alone is enough consideration -- you cannot count on a "they gave me nothing for it" defense.

What to Do If You Are Threatened With Enforcement

• Check the carve-outs first. If you are a physician or osteopath, subsection (k) makes the covenant void. If you hold another Title 17, Subtitle 3 medical license, the statute does not apply to you, and common law -- which does not authorize courts to rewrite an overbroad covenant -- governs instead. Either way, the letter you received may be asserting a rule that does not apply to you.
• Do not ignore a cease-and-desist letter. An employer may seek a preliminary injunction, and for covenants inside the statute, Arkansas presumes the harm from a breach is irreparable. Do not assume the employer has a hard road to an injunction.
• Gather your documents. Collect the signed agreement, your offer letter, job descriptions, and anything showing whether you actually had access to trade secrets or key customers.
• Get tailored legal advice. For covenants inside the statute, the question is usually not "is it void?" but "how much of it will a court enforce after it reforms it?" An attorney can assess the protectable-interest and reasonableness factors on your facts.
• Be careful with confidential information. Regardless of the non-compete, do not take or use a former employer's trade secrets or confidential files -- that creates separate exposure under the Arkansas Trade Secrets Act.

Where to Verify the Rules

Arkansas's non-compete statute is Arkansas Code Annotated section 4-75-101. You can read the law for free in the enrolled acts published by the Arkansas General Assembly: Act 921 of 2015 contains the original text of subsections (a) through (j), and Act 232 of 2025 contains the amendments, including the new subsection (k) voiding physician non-competes. For wage and overtime questions, consult the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing; for federal wage rules, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Because non-compete disputes are decided in court and turn heavily on the facts, the most reliable way to know how a specific agreement will be treated is to have a licensed Arkansas attorney review it.

This article is general information about Arkansas law and is not legal advice for your situation.

Official Arkansas Sources

This page is based on Arkansas employment law. Rules and figures change — verify the current details directly with the official Arkansas sources below. This is general legal information, not legal advice.

• Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing — official Arkansas agency.
• Wage Claims - Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Division

Federal law and local ordinances may also apply. Federal laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act set a national floor, and your city or county may add protections (such as a higher local minimum wage or paid sick leave). Check both alongside Arkansas state law.