#WorkforceWednesday: Non-Compete Compliance, New Requirements for Plan Sponsors, Get Ahead on Anti-Harassment Training - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA’s Three-Phase Plan, COVID-19 Workplace Training, Virginia’s Seismic Shift - Employment Law This Week®
National Backlash Builds Against Non-Compete Agreements - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
After a failed attempt to ban non-compete agreements statewide last year, New York City legislators are now poised to take matters into their own hands. Just weeks ago, the New York City Council unveiled a trio of proposed...more
Q: Is New York City considering a total ban on noncompete agreements? A: Yes — a total ban on noncompete agreements would be the result of one of the three noncompete bills currently pending in the New York City Council,...more
Since July 1, 2020, Virginia has prohibited employers from entering into, enforcing or threatening to enforce non-compete agreements with “low wage employees.” The definition of “low wage employee” periodically changes...more
In 2014, a Jimmy John’s employee leaked a copy of a noncompete agreement that the Sandwich of Sandwiches™ chain required employees at all levels (including store-level employees, such as sandwich makers and delivery drivers)...more
Making sense of the NLRB’s effort to limit non-compete agreements. In late May, Jennifer Abruzzo, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued Memorandum GC 23-08, in which she expressed her...more
Under the Biden administration, administrative agencies have taken aggressive action attempting to banish non-competes and similar agreements from the workplace. On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)...more
Challenges to non-competes by the federal government continue unabated under the Biden Administration. In the latest effort by the federal government to curtail the use of non-competes, which are traditionally governed by...more
Venture capitalists refer to “secret sauce” as the differentiator that gives one startup the edge over competitors. The secret sauce, properly protected, is a trade secret. However, employee turnover can threaten the secret...more
The New Year has certainly started with a bang at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). First, the agency announced enforcement actions against three employers prohibiting those companies from using non-competition agreements...more
The Council of the District of Columbia passed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”), one of the strictest bans on employee non-compete agreements in the country, approximately two years ago....more
In July 2022, the DC Council approved modifications to its previously enacted Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act (the "Act"), previously discussed here. The Act, which had yet to take effect, contained some of...more
In July 2019, Maryland banned non-compete clauses for employees who earn $15 an hour or $31,200 a year, or less. In 2020, neighboring Virginia passed a law prohibiting non-competes for “low-wage employees” (individuals...more
The current labor market is fraught with challenges for employers. In the wake of the COVID-19 market disruptions, the demand for employees, especially for experienced or highly trained employees, far exceeds the supply....more
On June 8, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Colorado House Bill 22-1317 (the “Bill”), which was passed by the Colorado Legislature on May 10, 2022. Effective 90 days from the end of the legislative session – on...more
This week, we look at the increased focus on non-compete agreements across the country. The Current Environment for Non-Compete Agreements (see video attached) There has been a wave of legislation restricting non-compete...more
On Aug. 13, 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Illinois Senate Bill 672 (the “Amendment”), an amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (the “Act”) that significantly limits an employer’s ability to bind employees...more
Over the past 10–15 years, we have seen an explosion of legislative activity related to restrictive covenants. This activity is happening not only in state legislatures but on the federal level as well. While each proposal is...more
Legislating Fairness: The National Movement Toward Legislation Regulating the Use of Noncompetes is part four of BakerHostetler's six-part series, "The Emerging New Era for Noncompetes and Trade Secrets.”...more
Over the past few years, states across the country have sought to limit or reduce the use of employee non-compete agreements. While some states have imposed outright bans on such agreements, many more have passed laws that...more
As we previously reported, a new amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act (820 ILCS § 90) regarding the use of non-competition and non-solicitation restrictive covenants for Illinois employees will take effect on January...more
Recently, the federal government and various state governments have spoken out concerning new limits on non-compete agreements and other post-employment restrictions. Although the trend toward limiting non-compete agreements...more
President Biden has directed the FTC to crack down on non-competition agreements. Non-compete clauses can unfairly hinder the mobility of low-level workers due to disparate bargaining power. Originally Published in...more
Joining a recent slew of other states, Illinois recently enacted a new law limiting the use of restrictive covenants and codified existing case law around their enforcement and interpretation. ...more
Note - This article has been updated to reflect that the amendments to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act discussed in our June 9, 2021 article have now been signed into law. The law goes into effect January 1, 2022. Joining...more
On January 1, 2022, Public Act 102-0358, an amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act will take effect and impact all non-compete agreements entered into prospectively. The law will ban employers from using non-compete...more