Following the lead of several other states, effective January 1, 2022, Illinois will make sweeping changes to its Freedom to Work Act (“Act”), limiting employers’ ability to restrict employees through covenants not to compete and covenants not to solicit.

In the past few years, more legislators have shown persistent hostility toward non-competition agreements in employment contracts. In adopting the Massachusetts Noncompetition Act (MNCA) in 2018, Massachusetts legislature played a major part in this catalyst movement of restricting non-competes

Contracts matter. While the cinematic version of a napkin-negotiated salary ends in a handshake, the reality is that a signature on a legally binding document offers a happier finale. As we transition out of shelter-in-place and prepare to resume our pre-pandemic lives, we explore here the basic principles for a physician employment agreement.