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ARTICLE · 01 OCTOBER 2026

The Noncompete Map Is Splintering

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Noncompete agreements face a fractured legal landscape as states diverge sharply on enforcement rules following the collapse of the FTC's federal ban. From mobility-first prohibitions to pro-enforcement regimes with four-year terms, employers must now navigate compensation thresholds, industry-specific carve-outs, and functional definitions that treat forfeiture clauses as de facto noncompetes. What does this patchwork mean for multistate workforce strategies?

United StatesEmployment and HR
Steven Pearlman
Steven Pearlman
Brenna McLean
Brenna McLean
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For a brief moment, noncompete law was headed toward a single national rule. Then the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) rule was set aside, the agency abandoned its appeals, and the map splintered. While the federal rule is gone, the policy fight is not—it has simply relocated to state capitols and courtrooms.

The FTC proceedings gave state lawmakers a policy record and a menu of competing priorities: worker mobility and wage growth on one side; freedom of contract, confidential information, and business investment on the other. States have gone in divergent directions.

States are answering five distinct questions differently: Who may be restrained? What interests justify restraint? Which economic devices count as noncompetes? What procedures must precede execution or enforcement? And who bears the risk of error once litigation begins?

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