Minnesota physician non-compete law
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in Minnesota.
If your contract is governed by Minnesota law, a physician non-compete is generally void — the state does not let an employer restrict where you practice after you leave. The clause may still appear in your contract; that alone does not make it enforceable. Confirm the restriction is tied to employment (not the sale of a practice or an ownership stake), and don't let an unenforceable clause talk you out of a move it cannot actually block.
- Posture
- Banned (statutory)
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06-10
- Radius that tends to stand
- —
- Term that tends to stand
- —
Governing law: Minn. Stat. § 181.988
These are the general rules for Minnesota. Your contract's exact radius, term, and buyout decide how it actually lands. See how your own clause compares — free.
Check your contract — free →The detailed picture
Minn. Stat. § 181.988 ("Covenants not to compete void in employment agreements"), effective for agreements entered on or after July 1, 2023, makes any covenant not to compete in an employment contract void and unenforceable, with no wage threshold and no healthcare/physician carve-out — so physician employment non-competes are banned. The statute expressly does NOT reach sale-of-business or business-dissolution non-competes, and its definition of "covenant not to compete" excludes nondisclosure agreements, trade-secret protections, and non-solicitation agreements. It is not retroactive (pre-July 1, 2023 non-competes are governed by prior common-law reasonableness). A 2025-2026 bill (HF1768) to reinstate non-competes for higher earners was heard in the House Workforce committee but did not pass and was not introduced in the Senate; the Minnesota AG has separately scrutinized health systems still asking physicians to sign non-competes.
Common questions
Are physician non-competes enforceable in Minnesota?
Physician non-competes are generally not enforceable in Minnesota. Governing law: Minn. Stat. § 181.988.
My Minnesota contract still has a non-compete — does that matter?
A clause can appear in a contract without being enforceable. Under Minnesota law a physician employment non-compete is generally void, so confirm the restriction is not tied to a practice sale or ownership interest, and check your own contract's exact wording.
Other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Non-compete enforceability turns on the exact wording of your contract and your circumstances; this page describes the state's general posture as last reviewed 2026-06-10.