On 9 January 2020 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a
public workshop in Washington, D.C. to assess whether it should
"promulgate a Commission Rule that would restrict the use of
non-compete clauses in employer-employee employment
contracts."1 Noncompete clauses are provisions in
employee contracts restricting them from working for a competing
employer for some period of time after their employment
ends.2
The workshop focused on the growing use of noncompete agreements
by employers across industries, whether the use of these agreements
is anti-competitive, and what authority the FTC has to regulate the
use of these agreements in the labor markets.
The FTC is now seeking further public comments, due on 10
February 2020. Below we discuss the key takeaways.
