Legally Supported Bullying? Legal Consciousness on Noncompete Agreements in China

There are growing scandals involving Chinese companies abusing noncompete agreements (noncompetes). Using legal consciousness as the research framework, this article empirically explores employees’ perceptions, interactions, and experiences with noncompetes. Drawing on 20 semistructured interviews and 344 supplementary screenshots of online discussions, this study identifies complex and intertwined forms of legal consciousness across three moments: signing, considering job hopping, and confronting activated noncompetes. Employees may exhibit a “before the law” consciousness by endorsing the theoretical reasonableness of noncompetes but simultaneously express a strong “under the law” consciousness in response to their overreach. Legally literate employees mobilize a “with the law” consciousness to seek remedies, while senior employees leverage resources in an “against the law” consciousness to evade enforcement. More commonly, employees develop voluntary or involuntary legal alienation, refraining from resorting to law, which enriches the framework of legal consciousness. The distorted “law in action” highlights the urgent needs for legal reforms. © The Author(s) 2026