Are Non-Competes Enforceable for Therapists and Behavioral Health Staff in Connecticut?

Connecticut splits its non-compete rules by license, and the split is sharp: two statutes govern your prescribers, the common law governs everyone else.

• Psychiatrists — physicians under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-14p: one year, 15 miles for covenants entered, amended, extended or renewed on or after July 1, 2016, plus the exit triggers below.
• PMHNPs and other APRNs — Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-101d: the same caps, for covenants entered, amended, extended or renewed on or after October 1, 2023.
• Counselors, social workers, MFTs, psychologists, BCBAs — no statute names them: the Weiss v. Wiederlight factors decide.

Start with what does not govern: the non-compete rule the Federal Trade Commission issued in 2024 was set aside by a federal district court, and a final rule published February 12, 2026 removed it from the Code of Federal Regulations.

As of October 2026, no federal ban on employee non-competes is in force.

In Connecticut, the general employment chapter (General Statutes chapter 557) has non-compete sections for just two occupations — security guards (§ 31-50a) and broadcast employees (§ 31-50b); no general employee non-compete statute was found there.

The licensing chapters are quiet too: psychologists (ch. 383), marital and family therapists (ch. 383a), clinical and master social workers (ch. 383b), professional counselors (ch. 383c) and behavior analysts (ch. 382a) have no non-compete provision.

That common law comes from Robert S. Weiss & Associates v. Wiederlight, 208 Conn. 525 (1988) — the Connecticut Supreme Court's factors for the reasonableness of a restrictive covenant ancillary to an employment agreement.

This page is Connecticut only; the wider picture is in our guide to non-competes nationally.

Connecticut's statutory rules cover prescribers: psychiatrist and PMHNP hires, not your counselors, social workers or BCBAs.

Physicians, including psychiatrists: § 20-14p

A Connecticut physician non-compete entered, amended, extended or renewed on or after July 1, 2016 cannot restrict the physician's competitive activities for more than one year or more than 15 miles from the physician's primary practice site.

It is unenforceable if the employer terminates the physician without cause, or if a non-partnership employment contract expires without a bona fide renewal offer on the same or similar terms.

A third trigger sits at renewal: if the physician does not agree to a proposed material change to the compensation terms prior to or at extension or renewal, and the contract then ends or the employer terminates without cause, the covenant is unenforceable — except that this rule does not apply to a covenant between a physician and a group practice of not more than 35 physicians the majority ownership of which is comprised of physicians.

APRNs, including PMHNPs: § 20-101d

Public Act 23-97 added § 20-101d to the Connecticut General Statutes with the same limits for APRN covenants entered, amended, extended or renewed on or after October 1, 2023: one year, 15 miles, unenforceable after a without-cause termination or a non-renewal without a bona fide offer.

The compensation-change trigger carries over: the covenant is unenforceable if the APRN rejects a proposed material change to compensation prior to or at extension or renewal, and the contract then ends or the employer terminates without cause.

Rules both statutes share

Both statutes require each covenant to be separately and individually signed by the clinician — the statutes' own words — and if a covenant is void, the rest of the contract survives, including provisions requiring payment of damages for injury from the contract's termination.

On the Connecticut General Assembly's current-statutes site as of October 7, 2026, no amendment after Public Act 23-97 appears in the history notes for § 20-14p or § 20-101d; 2026-session laws may not yet be compiled.

For the behavioral health licenses Connecticut leaves to the common law — counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and behavior analysts — the whole test comes from Weiss v. Wiederlight — five factors:

• the length of time the restriction operates;
• the geographical area covered;
• the fairness of the protection to the employer;
• the restraint on the employee's ability to work;
• interference with the public's interests.

The prescriber statutes hard-code the same judgment: a Connecticut physician or APRN covenant is enforceable only if necessary to protect a legitimate business interest and reasonably limited in time, geography and practice restrictions, with the party enforcing it bearing the burden of proof.

Two don'ts: don't borrow another state's answer — no Connecticut statute caps non-competes for counselors, social workers, MFTs, psychologists or BCBAs — and don't ignore the fifth factor, which brings effects beyond the two parties into the analysis.

What a Connecticut court does with a covenant that flunks one factor, this page does not answer — ask Connecticut employment counsel before relying on the clause.

A non-compete is not the only restrictive covenant in the drawer.

A client non-solicitation clause bars a departing clinician from soliciting the clients they served; an employee non-solicit bars them from recruiting your staff.

Don't transplant Connecticut's non-compete rules onto them: the prescriber statutes are written for covenants not to compete, and this page's Connecticut research does not settle how non-solicits are treated.

What carries over is the instinct — Connecticut courts judge an employee restrictive covenant on the Weiss reasonableness factors, so time, area and a real business interest matter in the wording.

For drafting detail, the ethics codes behind client transitions, and other states' rules, see our guide to non-solicitation clauses.

A covenant is the bluntest tool a Connecticut practice has — and for counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and behavior analysts, the least certain:

• Sort the hire first. The statutory one-year and 15-mile box fits physicians and APRNs only; counselor, social worker, MFT, psychologist and BCBA covenants get measured against the Weiss factors.
• Sign it correctly for prescribers. A covenant that runs longer than one year or wider than 15 miles does not meet § 20-14p or § 20-101d, and each must be separately and individually signed by the clinician.
• Name the interest, size the restraint. Write down what you are protecting — caseload continuity, referrals, a program — then keep the time and area no bigger than that interest.
• Pick the narrower tool that fits. Recouping an associate's supervision or a new graduate's training points to training repayment agreements; clients walking out the door points to the non-solicitation clause.

Whatever the covenant says, keep the transition clean — when a therapist leaves covers the handoff, records and notice side.