A nurse anesthetist in Butler County gets a better offer twenty minutes up the road. A physician assistant in New Castle wants out of a practice that's gone sideways. A family doctor in Pittsburgh finally decides to hang her own shingle. For years, the same piece of paper stopped all three cold: a non-compete that said you can't work near here for two years— sometimes longer.
Pennsylvania changed that. A law that's been on the books since January 1, 2025 puts real limits on those agreements for health care workers. A lot of people it protects still don't know it exists. Here's what it actually does.
WHAT DID PENNSYLVANIA CHANGE?
The law is called the Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act. Governor Josh Shapiro signed it in July 2024, and it took effect January 1, 2025.
The headline is simple. A non-compete that runs longer than one year is now void — the law calls it "contrary to public policy." An employer can't enforce it. Full stop.
That's a big shift. Before this, two- and three-year non-competes were common in hospital and practice contracts, and Pennsylvania courts often enforced them. Now, past the one-year line, they're dead on arrival.
WHO'S COVERED, AND WHO ISN'T?
This is where you have to read closely, because the law names specific jobs. It covers:
- Medical doctors (MDs)
- Doctors of osteopathy (DOs)
- Physician assistants (PAs)
- Certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNPs)
- Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs)
Notice who's not on that list. Your regular staff registered nurse — an RN who isn't a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist — isn't covered. Neither are techs, aides, or office staff. The protection is written for those five practitioner categories. If your title isn't one of them, this particular law doesn't reach your contract.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR EMPLOYER FIRES YOU?
Here's the part that gets missed, and it's the strongest thing in the law.
Even a one-year non-compete only holds if you left on your own. If the employer ends the relationship — laid you off, didn't renew you, or fired you even for cause — the non-compete isn't enforceable at all. Not for a year. Not for a day.
Think about what that means in the real world. A practice can't push you out the door and then use a non-compete to keep you from earning a living down the street. If they made the decision to end it, they gave up the leash.
ONE YEAR ISN'T NOTHING. WHAT CAN THEY STILL ENFORCE?
Straight talk: this isn't a free pass. A few things survive.
First, timing. The law only touches agreements signed on or after January 1, 2025. It's not retroactive. If you signed a three-year non-compete back in 2023, the old rules still decide whether it holds — so don't assume an older contract is gone.
Second, the sale of a business. If you sell your practice or your ownership stake and the non-compete is part of that deal, it can still be enforced. The idea is that when you cash out, the buyer is allowed to protect what they bought. That's different from a salaried employee being handed a form on day one.
So the one-year cap and the fired-for-cause rule are powerful, but they live inside those lines. Knowing which side of the line you're on is the whole ballgame — and it's the kind of civil-contract question I teach to other lawyers and paralegals through the National Business Institute, because even professionals get it wrong.
WHAT ABOUT THE PATIENTS YOU'VE BEEN TREATING?
The law does something for patients, too, and practice owners need to have this on their radar.
When a covered practitioner leaves, the employer has to notify certain patients within 90 days — specifically patients that departing practitioner saw in the past year and had an ongoing outpatient relationship with for at least two years. The notice has to tell them the practitioner left, that they can choose a new practitioner at the practice, and how to transfer their records if they want to follow their provider.
For patients, that's the difference between finding out your doctor vanished and getting an actual choice. For practices, it's a step you can't skip.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO RIGHT NOW?
If you're a practitioner: dig out your contract and check the date you signed it. Note whether the term is over a year, and whether you left or they did. Those three facts decide most of it. Don't turn down a good job — or stay in a bad one — because of a non-compete that may not be worth the paper it's printed on.
If you own or manage a practice: stop reusing that pre-2025 template. Get your agreements squared with the new law, and build the 90-day patient-notification step into your offboarding so a routine departure doesn't become a compliance problem.
Either way, if a non-compete is standing between you and your next move, have a real lawyer read it before you decide anything. We do that at intake — no charge to find out where you stand. And if getting paid what you're owed is the bigger fight, our breakdown of how Pennsylvania handles unpaid contractors covers related ground.
FAQ
Does this ban all non-competes for doctors and nurse practitioners?
No. It caps them at one year and voids them when the employer ends the job. A one-year restriction can still hold if you left voluntarily — and it only applies to agreements signed on or after January 1, 2025.
I signed my non-compete in 2022. Am I free?
Not automatically. The law isn't retroactive, so older agreements are judged under prior Pennsylvania law. That doesn't mean it's enforceable — many aren't — but it's a separate question worth having reviewed.
I'm a regular RN, not a nurse practitioner. Does this protect me?
Not this law. It covers MDs, DOs, PAs, certified registered nurse practitioners, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Staff RNs and other health care employees aren't included.
My practice is being sold. Does the cap still apply?
Maybe not. Non-competes tied to a genuine sale of a business — where you're a party to the deal — can still be enforced. Sale-related restrictions are treated differently from an ordinary employment non-compete.
Source: Pennsylvania's Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act (Act 74 of 2024), effective January 1, 2025. Also published as Issue No. 6 of Mergl's Mandatum.
Not legal advice. Every case is different.