Where Do Non-Compete Agreements Go From Here?

Not long before the election, the Obama Administration issued a "call to action" statement in which it urged state governments to restrict many of the non-compete agreements that employers often impose on employees. The statement calls on state legislatures to adopt certain "best practices" for regulating employee non-compete agreements, including:

• banning non-compete clauses for certain categories of workers, such as workers under a certain wage threshold, workers in certain occupations that promote public health and safety, and workers who are unlikely to possess trade secrets;
• refusing to enforce non-compete clauses against workers who are laid off or terminated without cause;