FTC – Final Rule Banning Non-Compete Agreements

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has issued a final rule to ban non-compete agreements nationwide, aiming to promote competition protect workers' freedom to change jobs, and innovation, and foster new business formation, therefore protecting consumer welfare.

Previously, the FTC published a proposed rule regarding non-compete agreements in January 2023, followed by a 90-day public comment period. On the over 26,000 comments FTC has received, it was detected that the vast majority supported the banning of non-compete agreements. After these influencing comments, on the 23^rd of April 2024, the FTC published its final order banning non-compete agreements for good.

In the final rule, the Commission deemed it unfair and a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act for employers to establish or enforce certain non-compete agreements on their employees. FTC found that these agreements;