Are Non-Competes Enforceable for Dentists and Dental Staff in Illinois?

Yes, but only above an earnings line.

Under section 10(a) of the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (820 ILCS 90), no employer may enter into a non-compete with an employee whose actual or expected annualized earnings are $75,000 or less, and that floor rises to $80,000 on January 1, 2027.

The Act measures the employee's actual or expected annualized rate of earnings, and it applies to any employee.

An associate dentist, a hygienist, an assistant and a front-desk hire all stand under the same line: the earnings number decides, not the job title.

Above the line, the covenant still has to clear the rest of the Act: adequate consideration, written advice to consult an attorney with at least 14 calendar days to review, and five validity conditions — with attorney's fees waiting if the employee defeats an enforcement suit.

Illinois law here is statutory.

The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, 820 ILCS 90, holds the thresholds, the paperwork and the reasonableness test in one place.

Its thresholds and notice rules apply to covenants entered into after January 1, 2022 (Public Act 102-358); a covenant signed before that date is not governed by those rules — have counsel review any pre-2022 agreement before you rely on it.

No federal rule banning employee non-competes overrides any of this.

The Federal Trade Commission's 2024 attempt at one was set aside in court before it took effect, and the agency removed the rule from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026, so state law governs what your Illinois agreements can do.

How the states compare is covered in our guide to non-competes for dental staff nationally.

Illinois has no dentist-specific non-compete rule.

The Act's only healthcare-specific provision, section 10(f) effective January 1, 2025, makes covenants unenforceable with respect to the provision of mental health services to veterans and first responders — dentistry is not covered by it.

So an associate dentist here is simply an employee: the earnings thresholds and the same five validity conditions decide the covenant, exactly as they do for a hygienist, an assistant or a front-office hire.

The Act holds no buyout formula or mileage cap for dental roles to borrow from.

One provision does put a dentist in a different position: selling.

Under section 5, a "covenant not to compete" does not include an agreement made by a person purchasing or selling the goodwill of a business or otherwise acquiring or disposing of an ownership interest.

A selling dentist's covenant with the buyer sits outside the Act's definition of a covenant not to compete, so the pay thresholds do not apply — it is transaction paperwork to draft with counsel.

Section 15 makes a covenant not to compete — or not to solicit — illegal and void unless all five of these hold:

• Adequate consideration. Defined in section 5: at least 2 years of employment after signing, or other professional or financial benefits adequate to support the covenant.
• Ancillary to a valid employment relationship.
• No greater than required to protect a legitimate business interest.
• Not unduly harsh on the employee.
• Not injurious to the public.

Time and area live inside the third condition.

The statute states its test as conditions rather than a table of numbers, so the term and area you pick are evidence in an argument — that the restraint is no greater than the interest it protects.

Name the interest, and size the covenant to it.

Two provisions price the drafting.

A court may reform or sever an overbroad covenant rather than void it, but the Act cautions that extensive judicial rewriting may be against public policy — don't draft wide and count on a trim.

And an employee who defeats your enforcement suit recovers all costs and reasonable attorney's fees, so overreach is the expensive option.

The Act's lower threshold belongs to the clause to lean on.

Section 10(b) bars customer or employee non-solicitation covenants for employees earning $45,000 or less a year, rising to $47,500 on January 1, 2027 — and for a dental practice, those customers are your patients.

Above that line, the same consideration and notice rules and the same five conditions apply to a covenant not to solicit as to a covenant not to compete.

How these clauses are built is covered in our guide to patient and staff non-solicits.

Confidentiality runs on a separate federal track.

Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the owner of a misappropriated trade secret related to a product or service in interstate commerce can sue in federal court — and a compilation such as a patient list qualifies only if you took reasonable measures to keep it secret and it has independent economic value from not being generally known.

A DTSA injunction cannot bar a new job outright: conditions on new employment must rest on evidence of threatened misappropriation, not merely on what the person knows.

The Act is workable once you treat it as a checklist:

• Check the earnings line first. $75,000 or less means no non-compete; $45,000 or less also means no non-solicit — both floors rise on January 1, 2027, to $80,000 and $47,500.
• Build the paperwork into the offer. Written advice to consult an attorney, and the covenant in hand with at least 14 calendar days to review before employment starts.
• Plan the consideration. A covenant handed over at exit, with nothing new given in return, has no two years of post-signing employment behind it — it needs other professional or financial benefits adequate to support it.
• Use the narrower tools. A patient-and-staff non-solicit above the threshold, written confidentiality terms, and — if you fund training — a repayment clause, which carries its own limits; see our guide to training repayment agreements.
• Hire with covenants in view. Ask candidates from other practices whether they are bound by one, and confirm licensure separately — starting from dentist licensure in Illinois.
• Keep people instead of litigating. A non-compete only restricts where they may work if they leave; a schedule people can plan around gives them reasons to stay.

Reading your own agreement rather than drafting one?

The worker's side is covered in our guide to dentist non-competes.

Whichever side you are on, have Illinois employment counsel review the document.