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Non-Compete Laws in Hawaii

Hawaii bans non-compete and non-solicit clauses for employees of technology businesses, and for other employees courts test non-competes for reasonableness under the state antitrust law.

Last checked . General information, not legal advice.

Hawaii at a glance

Status
Banned for tech employees; reasonableness test for others
HRS 480-4(d) voids non-compete and non-solicit clauses for technology business employees.
Enforceable against employees
Only with conditions
Outside tech businesses, a covenant is valid only if a court finds it reasonable (Technicolor v. Traeger).

Sources

Last checked

The rules in Hawaii

Are employee non-compete agreements banned, restricted or enforceable in Hawaii?

Status in Hawaii: Banned for tech employees; reasonableness test for others. HRS 480-4(d) voids non-compete and non-solicit clauses for technology business employees.

Can an employer enforce a non-compete against an employee in Hawaii?

Only with conditions. Enforceable against employees in Hawaii: only with conditions. Outside tech businesses, a covenant is valid only if a court finds it reasonable (Technicolor v. Traeger).

Where do the Hawaii non-compete laws come from?

The rules above come from HRS 480-4 and Technicolor, Inc. v. Traeger, 57 Haw. 113 (1976). Each source is linked on this page. We last checked them in October 2026.

What this means in practice

Read the restriction closely before signing. Note how long it lasts, the area it covers, which activities it bars and which state's law the contract says applies. A choice-of-law clause does not always control, because some states refuse to apply another state's law to their own residents or workers.

Salary thresholds are often adjusted every year for inflation. If a state uses a threshold, check the figure for the year the agreement was signed or is being enforced, and how the statute defines earnings.

A non-compete is different from a non-solicitation or confidentiality agreement. Many states that limit non-competes still allow narrower clauses that protect trade secrets or customer lists. An employment lawyer can explain how the rules apply to a specific agreement.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change, and cities can add their own rules, so check the current statute before you rely on it.