Employment paperwork feels like formality until the first dispute — a departed associate opening across the street, an ambiguity about production pay, a termination handled without documentation. A new practice should decide its contract standards before the first hire, because retrofitting terms onto an existing team is somewhere between awkward and impossible. Here’s the toolkit, including the honest current state of non-competes.
The document stack, by role
Support staff (techs, assistants, CSRs): most are properly at-will employees with an offer letter (role, pay, schedule, benefits, contingencies) plus a signed employee handbook (policies, PTO, conduct, the controls from your SOPs). Add confidentiality agreements for everyone — client lists and practice data deserve protection at every role. Associate DVMs: a true employment agreement: compensation model precisely defined (ProSal mechanics, what counts as production — the ambiguity that costs five figures; see the associate-comp guide), term and termination provisions (notice periods both ways, with/without cause), duties and scheduling expectations, CE/dues/licensure benefits, malpractice coverage and tail responsibility, moonlighting policy, record and client-data obligations, and the restrictive covenants below.
Non-competes: the honest current picture
The recent whiplash, in one paragraph: the FTC voted in 2024 to ban most non-competes nationwide, but a federal court blocked the rule, holding the FTC lacked authority — so there is currently no national ban and the FTC cannot enforce one. That leaves enforcement entirely to state law, where the landscape splits: several states — California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma — prohibit employment non-competes outright, others restrict them (income thresholds, notice requirements), and most enforce them if reasonable. Where enforceable, courts test reasonableness on three axes: duration (one year is common, two is the traditional ceiling), geographic scope (broader draws scrutiny — a radius reflecting your actual draw area, not a county), and activity scope (narrowly tailored to what the associate actually did). Overreach doesn’t just risk unenforceability — in some states it voids the clause entirely rather than trimming it. The strategic advice for a new practice: don’t lean on the non-compete as your retention plan. The legal ground is shifting (the FTC fight isn’t over, and states keep legislating), enforcement is expensive, and a practice that keeps doctors through compensation, culture, and equity paths (associate-comp and culture guides) rarely needs to litigate geography. The sturdier tools: non-solicitation agreements — barring solicitation of your clients and staff for a period — remain broadly permissible because they don’t prevent someone from working, with one drafting caution: an overbroad non-solicit that functions as a de facto non-compete draws the same problems. Pair with confidentiality covenants and clean client-records provisions, and you’ve protected the practice’s actual assets — relationships and information — with clauses courts respect.
Process hygiene that prevents disputes
- Written offer, contingencies stated (license verification, background where lawful), signed before the start date — never “we’ll paper it later.”
- Handbook acknowledgment signed at onboarding; policies applied consistently thereafter (inconsistency is what turns terminations into claims — EPLI in the insurance guide is the backstop, not the plan).
- Every change in writing. Raises, schedule changes, comp-model amendments — one-page amendments, signed.
- A veterinary-experienced employment attorney drafts your templates once (a few thousand dollars for the associate agreement, offer letter, confidentiality, and non-solicit set), then reviews annually and whenever a state law shifts. Do not adapt an internet template for the profession’s most litigated document. This article is general information, not legal advice. Employment law varies sharply by state and continues to change — engage qualified counsel for your documents. Sources: AVMA — Noncompete Agreements: What the FTC Rule Means · AVMA — Noncompete Agreements for Veterinary Professionals · Mandelbaum Barrett — Restrictive Covenants in Associate Agreements · Mahan Law — FTC Non-Compete Ban and Veterinary Practices · Aurora Search — Non-Compete Clauses in Veterinary Contracts