The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule that would ban the practice of companies forcing workers to sign non-compete clauses in their contracts.
Once limited to highly paid executive positions, such clauses are increasingly common in white collar jobs of all types of levels of compensation. One 2021 study out of the University of Chicago found that approximately 18 percent of the labor force is bound by non-competes.
Yet critics of the practice say it greatly limits workers' flexibility to change jobs.
“The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy,” said Chair Lina M. Khan in a statement. “Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand. By ending this practice, the FTC’s proposed rule would promote greater dynamism, innovation, and healthy competition.”
The FTC estimates the rule could increase overall wages by $300 billion per year. The agency is pursuing the ban under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which targets unfair methods of competition. The public now has 60 days to comment on the rule change.
“The proposed rule would ensure that employers can’t exploit their outsized bargaining power to limit workers’ opportunities and stifle competition," said Elizabeth Wilkins, director of the Office of Policy Planning at the FTC.
President Joe Biden has memorialized Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as a pioneer in the legal world who inspired generations of women.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will take on the role of head of the Social Security Administration after the Senate voted to confirm him.
President Biden's pleas for Congress to approve more Ukrainian aid before year's end appears to be coming up short.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has approved sweeping new powers that allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the U.S. border and give local judges authority to order them to leave the country.
Two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgement against Rudy Giuliani are asking for a court order barring him from continuing to repeat the lies he spread about them following the 2020 election.
A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows cannot move charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia to federal court.
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
The U.S. Justice Department has created a database to track records of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers that is aimed at preventing agencies from unknowingly hiring problem officers, officials said on Monday.
The House of Representatives recently passed a bill aimed at increasing transparency in healthcare.
In the Red Sea this morning, a U.S. warship, the USS Carney responded to a distress call by a commercial vessel after it came under attack.
