Utah just voided most non-compete and non-solicit agreements for veterinarians outright, unless the departing vet owns at least 5 percent of the practice, effective May 6, 2026, according to a 2026 employment law roundup from Covington. It is not an isolated move. Maine, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington all tightened restrictions on non-compete agreements in the months since, and VIN News reports veterinarians are watching the trend closely because it changes what a practice can actually enforce when an associate leaves.
For practice owners who have relied on a non-compete to keep a departing associate from opening down the street, the legal ground to do that keeps narrowing, state by state.
What Utah's New Law Actually Changes
Utah's Senate Bill 111, the Veterinary Post-Employment Amendments, took effect May 6, 2026, and voids most non-competes and non-solicit agreements for veterinarians who do not hold at least a 5 percent ownership stake in the practice. It joins a companion law, House Bill 270, that bans post-employment non-competes for most other licensed healthcare workers in the state, with exceptions for arrangements built around a reasonable severance agreement or the sale of a business.
Utah is not alone in singling out veterinarians. Today's Veterinary Business has tracked similar veterinary-specific carve-outs building for several years, and four states, California, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, already void most non-competes outright regardless of profession, a shift Hound covered in depth when California's ban took effect.
The Broader 2026 Trend Beyond Veterinary Medicine
Even states that have not passed veterinary-specific laws are narrowing what a non-compete can require of any employee. Maine's House Bill 2200 bars non-competes for licensed health care practitioners who are not part owners of the employer, effective July 29, 2026. New Hampshire expanded its existing physician non-compete ban to cover physician assistants as of July 7, 2026. Tennessee now bars non-competes for any employee earning under $70,000 annually, and Virginia bars enforcement against employees terminated without cause, both effective July 1, 2026. Washington's near-total non-compete ban, signed in March 2026, takes effect June 30, 2027.
A Non-Compete Was Never the Real Retention Tool
A restrictive covenant only works if a practice is willing and able to enforce it in court, and fewer states are giving practices that option every year. What actually keeps an associate from opening down the street, or joining a competitor two towns over, has always been the working relationship itself: reasonable schedules, a clear path to more responsibility or ownership, and pay that reflects what a credentialed veterinary professional can earn elsewhere. A non-compete clause was rarely the reason someone stayed. It was a backstop for practices that had not yet solved the more basic problem.