#WorkforceWednesday: Non-Compete Compliance, New Requirements for Plan Sponsors, Get Ahead on Anti-Harassment Training - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA’s Three-Phase Plan, COVID-19 Workplace Training, Virginia’s Seismic Shift - Employment Law This Week®
National Backlash Builds Against Non-Compete Agreements - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
Members of the New York City Council are looking to accomplish what the New York State Legislature could not – proposing various bans on the use of non-competes in New York City. On February 28, 2024, members of the New York...more
The Rhode Island legislature recently moved two bills forward that would limit employers’ use of restrictive covenants with employees. On June 19, 2023, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a bill, Senate Bill (S)...more
Venture capitalists refer to “secret sauce” as the differentiator that gives one startup the edge over competitors. The secret sauce, properly protected, is a trade secret. However, employee turnover can threaten the secret...more
The current labor market is fraught with challenges for employers. In the wake of the COVID-19 market disruptions, the demand for employees, especially for experienced or highly trained employees, far exceeds the supply....more
On June 8, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Colorado House Bill 22-1317 (the “Bill”), which was passed by the Colorado Legislature on May 10, 2022. Effective 90 days from the end of the legislative session – on...more
Over the past few years, states across the country have sought to limit or reduce the use of employee non-compete agreements. While some states have imposed outright bans on such agreements, many more have passed laws that...more
President Biden has directed the FTC to crack down on non-competition agreements. Non-compete clauses can unfairly hinder the mobility of low-level workers due to disparate bargaining power. Originally Published in...more
Joining a recent slew of other states, Illinois recently enacted a new law limiting the use of restrictive covenants and codified existing case law around their enforcement and interpretation. ...more
Note - This article has been updated to reflect that the amendments to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act discussed in our June 9, 2021 article have now been signed into law. The law goes into effect January 1, 2022. Joining...more
On January 1, 2022, Public Act 102-0358, an amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act will take effect and impact all non-compete agreements entered into prospectively. The law will ban employers from using non-compete...more
Virginia may be for lovers, but it no longer loves non-compete agreements. Starting on July 1, 2020, employers may not “enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce” a non-compete agreement with any “low-wage employee.” As...more
In short, the petitioners asked for a rule that non-competes are an unfair method of competition that is illegal per se under Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Further, they asked that any employer presenting,...more
Within the last five months, the two executive arms responsible for enforcing antitrust laws—the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)—held public workshops to examine the effect of...more
On 9 January 2020 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a public workshop in Washington, D.C. to assess whether it should "promulgate a Commission Rule that would restrict the use of non-compete clauses in employer-employee...more
As sophisticated employers know, an employer must track and comply with developments not only in federal law, but also state and local law. This blog post details key changes in employment laws in the Commonwealth of Virginia...more
A new state law in Maryland now prohibits employers from requiring low-wage employees to enter into noncompete agreements. Maryland Senate Bill 328, which took effect on October 1, 2019, prohibits employers from obligating...more
As 2020 approaches, employers in New England may want to review their noncompetition agreements to determine whether they comply with recently enacted laws in Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In 2019, both states passed laws...more
Following in the footsteps of its neighbors Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, Rhode Island recently enacted legislation that restricts the use of non-competition agreements with certain types of employees. The Rhode...more
This is the third blog by our Trade Secrets , Computer Fraud & Non-Competes team dealing with Washington state’s House Bill 1450, which dramatically alters non-compete agreements within the state. This blog discusses...more
As we previously reported in the context of low-wage workers, Rhode Island recently passed the Rhode Island Noncompetition Agreement Act, which will be effective January 2020. This legislation extends protections far beyond...more
Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) have introduced legislation entitled the Workforce Mobility Act (“WMA”). The WMA, like its prior incarnation from last year, seeks to ban non-compete agreements outside...more
Rhode Island is the latest state to jump on the bandwagon of limiting the application of non-compete agreements, with its Rhode Island Noncompetition Agreement Act (the “Act”)....more
The Council of the District of Columbia is considering a new bill that would ban the use of non-compete restrictions for workers below certain income thresholds—and impose stiff penalties upon employers who include such...more
Over the course of the past several years, several states have banned or severely restricted the ability of businesses to bind low-wage workers to post-employment restrictive covenants. Since 2007, Oregon has banned...more
Maryland employers are now prohibited from enforcing non-compete agreements against employees earning less than $15 per hour or less than $31,200 per year. SB 328 became effective October 1, 2019, making such noncompete...more