On July 17, 2024, Governor Josh Shapiro approved Pennsylvania’s first statute imposing limitations on the use of noncompetes in the state....more
7/23/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pennsylvania ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
Washington State is making a few important amendments to its existing noncompete statute. The amendments go into effect on June 6, 2024....more
Last summer, the New York State legislature made waves when it passed a bill that effectively would have banned noncompete agreements. New York’s Governor vetoed that bill in late December 2023. This year, however, it is...more
3/7/2024
/ Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
New York ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
2023 started off with a bang, and it is certainly not ending with a whimper. On January 4, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the settlement of two enforcement actions against employers arising out of their...more
12/27/2023
/ Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
As we predicted when the New York legislature passed a bill that would ban noncompetes in the state without even an exception for the sale of a business, Governor Kathy Hochul has said that she wants changes to the bill –...more
11/30/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
As we discussed earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in recent years has brought numerous criminal prosecutions against companies accused of engaging in so-called “naked” no-poach agreements, i.e.,...more
As we previously reported, Minnesota will soon become only the fourth state (along with California, Oklahoma and North Dakota) to ban noncompetes.
The state’s new law renders void and unenforceable all covenants not to...more
6/30/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
Earlier yesterday (June 20, 2023) the New York State Assembly voted in favor of a noncompete ban that was passed by the New York State Senate on June 7. In previous posts here and here, we have discussed in detail this bill...more
Earlier this year, legislation was proposed in New York that would effectively ban all post-employment noncompetes. Few paid close attention to the proposals, ostensibly because similar legislation is proposed virtually every...more
As expected, on May 24, 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed a new law banning noncompete agreements in Minnesota. The ban will be effective for such agreements entered on or after July 1, 2023....more
A Ruling and Order issued on April 28, 2023 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in United States v. Patel, et al. ran the government’s losing streak to four failed trials seeking to criminally prosecute...more
It is no secret that political winds are blowing against the practice of employers requiring certain employees to sign non-competition agreements, as demonstrated most saliently earlier this year when the Federal Trade...more
On May 2, 2022, a bill “limiting certain provisions in restrictive covenants” was introduced in the New Jersey State Assembly. In recent years, similar bills have been proposed in various state legislatures. Some such...more
The Wyoming Supreme Court recently made an important change to the way restrictive covenant agreements are evaluated by courts in that state. For many years, courts in Wyoming – as in many other states – have followed the...more
Employers, take note: certain amendments strengthening Oregon’s existing statutory restrictions on non-compete agreements, went into effect on January 1, 2022 – as previewed in our previous blog post. Coupled with existing...more
Within the last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) brought its first indictments alleging criminal wage-fixing conspiracies and criminal no-poach conspiracies among competing employers. In December 2020, DOJ indicted...more
Effective January 1, 2022, the earning thresholds for employees and independent contractors in Washington who properly may be subject to noncompetition covenants will increase. The new adjusted earning threshold for employees...more
On February 25, 2021, the Workforce Mobility Act, a bipartisan bill to limit the use of non-compete agreements, was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)...more
A recent report issued by the Trade Secrets Committee of the New York City Bar recommends that New York State’s legislature adopt statutory guidelines governing the use of non-compete agreements for lower-salary employees....more
Joining many other states that in recent years have enacted laws regarding physician non-competition agreements, Indiana recently enacted a statute that will place restrictions on such agreements which are originally entered...more
As certain long-standing issues of interest to financial services employers seem to be receiving a degree of reactive attention, other cutting-edge issues continue to force such employers to revisit and update policies to...more
11/25/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internal Investigations ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
State Labor Laws
The 2019 legal landscape of employee mobility continues to evolve, at times drastically. Courts and legislatures are giving increased scrutiny to employers’ claims to protect the confidentiality of their trade secrets and...more
6/27/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preemption ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sherman Act ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets
On August 10, 2018, the Governor of Massachusetts signed “An Act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements,” otherwise known as the Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (“Act”), § 24L of Chapter...more