The End of Noncompete Agreements Nationally: In this episode of the Employee Survival Guide, Mark discusses a controversial new public policy change from the federal government to issue a Federal Trade Commission rule to ban noncompetition agreements in employment nationally; historically this is a state law domain. As usual, Mark adds his commentary of this historic event based on his years of employment litigation on the issue of noncompetition agreements and similar issues.
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COVID-19 CANCELS ALL NONCOMPETE AGREEMENTS DUE TO IMPOSSIBILITY
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Transcript:
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Hey, it’s Mark here and welcome to the next edition of the Employee Survival Guide, where we tell you what your employer does not want you to know about and more. Today we’re talking about the end of the non compete agreement nationally. If you’ve a non compete agreement or about to be handed one, the following information is very important. The collective quote unquote, you hear kurz an estimated 40 to 60 million employees nationwide, from executives to low wage workers in the service economy. The epidemic use of non compete agreements has gotten out of control. And too many employees have been just needlessly and financially suffered under the onerous default management practice. The end of this bs employment practice has now arrived. Non compete agreements were created by employers for employers. Employees never had a chance to negotiate these agreements. We have written extensively about this topic on our website. Non compete agreements serve no valid or reasonable purpose to protect the interests of employees. Only employers non compete agreements are an overreach by employers whose interests are already protected by confidentiality and proprietary information agreements. employees say it further protects their competitive advantages, trade secrets, and other corporate proprietary information. That is a lie told over and over again by the the pro employer lobby groups and the defense bar that support them. Employees are now restricted from gainful employment more than any time in this country’s work history to their financial detriment. Meanwhile, employers reap billions of dollars in unlawful restrictive trade practices that are ruining our economy. Just when we are trying to dig out from this pandemic. Shame on you employers. How did employers cause this calamity? The facts are simple to understand. No one noticed the widespread use of this default employment practice. No one noticed the financial cost to employees. Employees are not organized. And politicians sought only to align themselves with a business lobbies such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Society of Human Resource Management. It is exactly this decentralized and unorganized nature of non unionized employees, roughly 100 100 50 million strong that employers across the spectrum abuse and mistreat with non compete agreements. how certain Am I of this fact? Well, I watch endless flow of non compete cases come through our offices. In every case, we have litigated the employee never negotiated the non compete agreement, had no say in the matter was told to sign it or lose a job opportunity after they were already hired. These default employment practices have to stop they are abusive and restrict trade in the US economy. This is not a political issue, and neither party can claim it as a weapon. Companies large and small run or owned by members from both parties use non compete agreements. employers who forced non compete agreements on employees derive the same financial benefit profits at the enormous expense to individual employees. The Federal Trade Commission has finally weighed in. According to the Federal Trade Commission website, on January 9 2020, the Federal Trade Commission held a public workshop to examine whether there was a sufficient legal basis and empirical economic support to promulgate a commission rule that would restrict the use of non compete clauses in the employee employer relationship. Proponents of the ban on non compete agreements seek to create a rule that non compete agreements in the workplace are an unfair methods of competition under section five A of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Obviously, litigation will ensue right up to the Supreme Court, most likely on federalism grounds, where opponents of the band will argue states have a right to make and enforce their individual state laws versus the federal government doing so. President Biden issues a comprehensive executive order banning non compete agreements. On July 9 2021, President Biden issued a comprehensive executive order that stated important part, quote, consolidation has increased the power of corporate employers, making it harder for workers to bargain for higher wages and better work conditions. Powerful companies require workers to sign non compete agreements that restrict their ability to change jobs, to address agreements that may unduly limit workers ability to change jobs. The chair of the FTC is encouraged to consider working with the rest of the commission to exercise the FTC statutory rulemaking authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act to curtail the unfair use of non compete clauses and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit worker mobility, and, quote, to be abundantly clear, this is not a political issue, or socialistic propaganda by the Biden administration, but a return to fairness and placing a premium on competitive workforce. As a political historian, implement activists republican employment litigator on the employee side, I professionally watch the nonsensical enforcement of not of unfair and dubious non compete agreements for 25 years. Simply Enough is Enough already. The pendulum is now swinging back to center. According to an accompanying Fact Sheet published by the Biden administration, quote, competition in labor markets empowers workers to demand higher wages and greater dignity and respect in the workplace. One way companies stifle competition is with non compete clauses. Roughly half of the private sector businesses require at least some employees to enter non compete agreements affecting some 36 to 60 million employed workers and quote, the end of the abusive default management practices is here. The above executive order banning non compete agreements marks the beginning of the end of abusive management practices that has enveloped the nation’s workforce since the founding of this country. Other owners default management practices such as forced arbitration, forced confidentiality of settlements, lack of employee privacy, lack of freedom of speech at work in the private sector, and the implement at will rule itself. All strip employees have basic civil rights and negotiation power, and in some instances promotes discrimination. Employees are indispensable to the operations and profitability of all companies think of Amazon in their warehouses in your local neighborhood. Without lineworkers How will your prime delivery get to you when you press the Buy Now button on the website, employers dehumanize employees down to the human capital quotient for capitalism purposes, we should all be mindful not to break the collective backs of our nation’s workforce and begin to recognize them for what they really mean to our economy as a whole. We need to bring more fairness and transparency to the workplace. If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact our employment attorneys at Carey & Associates PC or email at info@capclaw.com. Thank you and be well, have a great week.