Georgia’s Court of Appeals recently held that, under Georgia’s Restrictive Covenants Act, an employee non-solicitation provision must contain an express geographic limitation to be enforceable. This clarifies the general language under the Act, which requires that restrictive covenants must be “reasonable in time, geographic area and scope of prohibited activities.” Note that the recent ruling emphasized that the court cannot introduce a missing geographic term to an agreement that lacks it.
Given the current legal landscape, it is prudent for employers to include a clear geographic limitation in any non-recruitment provisions governed by the Restrictive Covenants Act to ensure their enforceability. Otherwise, the employee non-solicitation provision may be entirely void and unenforceable.
