FTC Enters Competition To Restrict Non‑Compete Clauses

In his July 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, President Joe Biden encouraged the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (the "FTC") to "exercise the FTC's statutory rulemaking authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act to curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility." In response, the FTC last Thursday, January 5, released a proposed rule (the "Proposed Rule") that would ban post-employment non-compete clauses in agreements between employers and workers, other than in limited cases in connection with the sale of a business, labeling them "unfair methods of competition."