Government Attacks On Non-Compete Agreements Continue

Non-compete agreements have long been used by employers as an effective tool to protect their valuable trade secrets and confidential information. However, employers' overuse of non-compete agreements and employers' practice of requiring all of their employees to sign non-compete agreements recently has come under significant attack by federal and state governments. In July, Trade Secrets Watch discussed some of those recent attacks. Since July, there have been a number of additional efforts by government to prohibit the overuse of non-compete agreements.

On August 19, 2016, Illinois enacted the Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which prohibits employers from entering into non-compete agreements with "low-wage employees" and declares such agreements "illegal and void." The Act applies to employees who earn $13 per hour or less and to agreements that restrict: (1) working for another employer for a specified period of time; (2) working in a specified geographical area;