On April 6, 2026, New York State Senator Michael Gianaris re-introduced a bill that would prohibit most non-compete agreements between employers and employees in New York State. As we have previously described, on June 20, 2023, the state legislature passed S3100, which banned non-compete agreements for nearly all employees regardless of annual earnings, applied both retroactively and prospectively, voided new and existing non-compete agreements, and gave covered employees a private right of action against employers with liquidated damages up to $10,000. On December 22, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed S3100, having unsuccessfully sought to narrow the scope of the bill by eliminating non-compete agreements only for low- and middle-wage earners.
In response to Governor Hochul’s veto, on February 10, 2025, New York State Senator Sean Ryan introduced a revised bill (S4641) that narrowed the scope of covered individuals and its application. As explained here, this bill would only apply prospectively and to “highly compensated individuals” earning $500,000 or more in cash compensation per year. S4641 also banned non-compete agreements for “health related professionals” regardless of annual compensation. Under the legislation, fixed-term agreements, exclusivity agreements, and other restrictive covenants would remain lawful. S4641 maintained the private right of action from S3100, which would allow covered individuals to void non-compete agreements and seek liquidated damages against their employer up to $10,000 plus attorneys’ fees within a specific period. For permissible non-compete agreements, S4641 imposed certain statutory conditions, including that the agreement’s term of restriction not exceed one year and that the employer offer one year of paid garden leave. Although these revisions hewed more closely to Governor Hochul’s preferred approach, the bill never advanced beyond the Assembly Labor Committee during the 2025 legislative session.
The new iteration of the bill (S9759) is substantively identical to S4641. S9759 is currently in the Senate Labor Committee. Since the bill was introduced by Senator Gianaris, there has been no public commentary from either the state legislature or the governor on the bill’s likelihood of success. Because S4641 was never presented to Governor Hochul, whether S9759 will be a legislative priority in the 2026 legislative session is unclear.