Last summer, as discussed in this blog, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a decision in N. Amer. Senior Benefits, LLC v. Wimmer that presented potential challenges for employers seeking to enforce employee non-solicitation...more
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
When the calendar turns to July 2024, staffing agencies, home health agencies and other service providers operating in Minnesota are going to experience a considerable change in the legal landscape of that state, which could...more
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
For many of us, summer holidays are over, the kids are back in school, and it is a good time to take stock of languishing items on our to-do lists. For employers that have restrictive covenant agreements with employees in...more
We wrote previously about how nobody seemed to be talking seriously about the noncompete bill that was passed by both the New York General Assembly and Senate last month. If signed by Governor Hochul, the bill would ban...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
New York State’s noncompete ban has passed both houses of the state legislature and now awaits Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature.
Epstein Becker Green attorney David J. Clark details how this proposed ban would affect...more
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
Two states recently have enacted restrictions on noncompete agreements being used within certain professions.
In Maine, on June 1, 2023, the Governor signed into law LD 688/ HP 457, entitled “An Act to Protect Access to...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
As we predicted, earlier today, 100 industry organizations submitted a request to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to extend the comment period for its proposed rule banning noncompetes nationwide by an additional 60 days....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
Colorado statutory law has traditionally limited enforcement of restrictive covenants. C.R.S. § 8-2-113, entitled “Unlawful to intimidate worker – agreement not to compete,” provides that all contractual restrictions on a...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