FTC bans Non Compete clauses

[Duck Tape]

Bureaucracy rules when federal legislators cannot.

The extreme polarization does not reward bipartisanship.

This scenario means we are governed by the ever changing winds of executive orders and court opinions.

[Carolina Counsel]

I find it good for capitalism. Screw big business trying to keep their thumb on their employees.

I disagree, obviously. Non-competes are not just for "big business," they're often a necessity for small businesses, particularly those in specialized fields that share their trade secrets with employees (yes, I know that you can still protect trade secrets absent a noncompete). A business often invests a lot of time and energy (at an initial loss) into training its employees and instilling industry-specific knowledge to that employee. The business reasonably wants to protect its investment. One way to do so is by way of noncompete. The law already states that a noncompete is unenforceable if not accompanied by consideration, so employees are required to receive something in exchange for signing a noncompete. It's up to that employee to determine whether the juice is wroth the squeeze.

[lowbudget]

I know several professionals which were leveraged into NCA's as a required part of employment contracts. Sure, they had the option to walk away from it, but the cost of starting over at a new firm and building a new client base was astronomical. While there is a place for a NCA or similar agreement in proprietary business, this helps a good number of folks.