FTC Drops Its Non-Compete Ban, But Vows Continued Enforcement

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has abandoned its defense of the rule proposed by the Biden Administration banning almost all employer-employee non-competes. As a result, the broad non-compete rule is dead.

At the same time, the FTC's Republican majority made clear that the FTC will prioritize aggressive case-by-case enforcement against unreasonable non-compete clauses. As FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson put it, the "failure of the Biden Commission's rule does not mean that employers are free to impose noncompete agreements willy-nilly."

Statements from FTC Commissioners, its recent request for information, and an enforcement action shed light on agreements that the FTC may prioritize for investigation.