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

Washington is a statute state, and until June 30, 2027 the statute — chapter 49.62 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) — decides enforceability by earnings.

A non-compete is void against an employee earning $126,858.83 or less a year (the 2026 figure) or an independent contractor earning $317,147.09 or less.

Above the line, a covenant can be enforced, but only if it clears every other condition the statute sets.

From June 30, 2027, the earnings test disappears because the covenants do: under chapter 149 of Washington's 2026 session laws, all non-competes in Washington become void and unenforceable regardless of when they were signed, and entering into, enforcing or threatening to enforce one becomes a violation.

The rules cover associate dentists, hygienists and assistants alike.

Two pointers before the detail.

For how the rest of the country treats dental covenants, see our guide to non-competes for dental staff nationally.

And if you are the associate rather than the practice, the worker's side is in the dentist's view of non-compete agreements.

The rule is statutory, not case law: chapter 49.62 RCW, amended by chapter 149 of Washington's 2026 session laws — the amendment that puts the June 30, 2027 ban on the books.

Three of its mechanics matter most to a dental practice before that date.

First, disclosure.

Until June 30, 2027, a non-compete is void unless you disclosed its terms in writing no later than the employee's acceptance of the job offer — or, if it is signed after hire, gave independent consideration for it (RCW 49.62.020(1)(a)).

A covenant handed over after the offer is accepted, with nothing new in return, does not qualify.

Second, the earnings line.

For 2026 the covenant is void against an employee earning $126,858.83 or less a year — measured as W-2 box 1 wages, annualized — or an independent contractor earning $317,147.09 or less.

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) adjusts both figures each year under RCW 49.62.040, so check the current-year number instead of leaving 2026's in your template.

Third, forum.

For Washington-based employees, a clause requiring litigation in another state or applying another state's law is void (RCW 49.62.050).

A multi-state group running one employment template cannot contract its way around Washington's rules.

Washington has no dentist-specific non-compete rule.

RCW 49.62 is a general employment statute: the same earnings threshold, disclosure requirement and duration presumption cover associate dentists, hygienists and assistants alike, and none of the conditions change with the license a person holds.

Nor can you import one by contract: for Washington-based employees, a clause applying another state's law is void under RCW 49.62.050, so another state's dentist-specific statute cannot govern the covenant.

What changes by role is where the earnings line lands.

A hygienist or assistant whose annualized W-2 earnings are $126,858.83 or less cannot be bound by a Washington non-compete right now.

An associate dentist paid above that line can be, if the disclosure, duration and layoff rules are met — and only until June 30, 2027, when the ban voids the covenant no matter what the dentist earns.

If you engage an associate as an independent contractor rather than an employee, the 2026 line is $317,147.09.

Until June 30, 2027, Washington answers the traditional duration question by statute instead of leaving it to a court's judgment call.

A non-compete lasting more than 18 months after termination is presumed unreasonable and unenforceable; it can run longer only if you prove by clear and convincing evidence that the longer term is necessary.

Two more rules sit in front of any reasonableness argument, and both apply until June 30, 2027.

If the employee is terminated as the result of a layoff, they cannot be held to the covenant unless enforcement includes compensation equivalent to their base salary at the time of termination — reduced by earnings from new employment — for the enforcement period.

And under current law, if a court or arbitrator finds a covenant violates RCW 49.62, or reforms or only partially enforces it, the employer owes the greater of actual damages or a $5,000 statutory penalty, plus attorneys' fees and costs.

Geographic area, and the traditional legitimate-business-interest question, are the elements none of the statutory rules on this page set a test for.

Whatever radius or city list a covenant proposes, treat the question as one for Washington employment counsel — and remember the clock: from June 30, 2027, the whole reasonableness analysis disappears along with the covenant itself.

This is where a Washington practice's durable protection sits.

Under current law, a nonsolicitation agreement — one barring solicitation of employees or current customers — is not a non-compete, so it sits outside the earnings threshold and the other non-compete conditions.

The line is drafting-sensitive, though: a clause that prohibits accepting or transacting business with a customer is treated as a non-compete and falls with it.

A no-accept patient clause dressed up as a non-solicit is still a non-compete in Washington.

The 2027 law tightens non-solicits rather than eliminating them.

From June 30, 2027, a Washington nonsolicitation agreement may cover only current or prospective customers, patients or clients with whom the employee established or substantially developed a direct relationship, and it must expire within 18 months after termination.

For a practice, that points to drafting around the patients the departing clinician actually treated, not the whole recall base.

Confidentiality terms carry their own weight behind them.

Under federal trade-secret law (18 U.S.C. § 1839), business information — including compilations such as a patient list — is a trade secret only if the owner took reasonable measures to keep it secret and it has independent economic value from not being generally known.

Those secrecy measures are built before someone gives notice, not after.

Our guide to patient and staff non-solicits covers how the clauses are built.

With a hard stop coming, covenant drafting is a transition problem rather than a structure to invest in.

The practical sequence:

• Audit who is actually bound today. Run each covered employee's annualized W-2 box 1 earnings against the current-year L&I threshold before you count on any covenant — and plan for the date every remaining one becomes void.
• Fix the disclosure mechanics now. Until June 30, 2027, disclose the covenant in writing no later than the acceptance of the offer, and attach new consideration if it is signed after hire. A covenant that fails the disclosure rule is void, and if a court or arbitrator finds a covenant violates RCW 49.62 — or reforms or only partially enforces it — you owe the greater of actual damages or a $5,000 statutory penalty, plus attorneys' fees and costs.
• Calendar the two dates. June 30, 2027, when all non-competes become void; and October 1, 2027, when Washington employers must have made reasonable efforts to notify current and former employees and contractors whose covenants are still in effect that the covenants are void.
• Move retention into non-solicit and confidentiality clauses. Draft patient non-solicits to the limits the June 30, 2027 law sets — patients the employee established or substantially developed a direct relationship with, expiring within 18 months of termination — and put reasonable secrecy measures around patient lists and schedules.
• Where it fits, use a training repayment instead. From June 30, 2027, a Washington provision requiring a worker to repay or forfeit compensation for taking other lawful work is itself treated as a noncompetition covenant — but a written agreement to repay out-of-pocket education expenses that expires within 18 months of start, is prorated, and is waived if the employee quits for statutory good cause is excluded. Our guide to training repayment agreements covers the tool.
• Hire so you have less to enforce. Verification beats enforcement — start with dentist licensure in Washington before an associate signs, and build the retention you will actually rely on after 2027 into pay, schedule and culture.