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.
Negotiators insist they are making progress, but a hoped-for framework did not emerge. The talks come as Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner in 2024, delivered alarming anti-immigrant remarks about “blood” purity over the weekend, echoing Nazi slogans of World War II at a political rally.
The Supreme Court decided to leave in place a ban on semi-automatic weapons in the state of Illinois.
The Senate passed a bill giving retroactive pay increases to those service members who may have been affected by the hold on military promotions caused by Senator Tommy Tuberville.
Jurors are expected to resume deliberations this morning in a case that centers on how much Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani must pay in his damages defamation trial.
President Biden said Israel needs to be more careful when it comes to civilian deaths in its war with Hamas as the next phase of the war is weeks away.
The White House has unveiled a list of 48 drugs that drugmakers will have to pay rebates to the federal government on due to raising their prices higher than the cost of inflation during this year.
The European Council announced it will open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova to join the group.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said former President Trump's policies toward China have left the nation "more vulnerable" and more isolated in the global economy.
A federal grand jury in Montana has indicted two men accused of killing about 3,600 birds, including bald eagles and golden eagles, and selling them on the black market.
House Republicans unanimously voted to advance an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
