Trade Secrets

FTC’s Non-Compete Ban: Have We Reached A U-Turn or Just a Detour?

March 12, 2025 | by Eric B. Meyer

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As Tom Petty once sang, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Employers waiting on the uncertain fate of the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete rule can relate. With the initial sweeping ban announced in 2024 and legal challenges that followed, many businesses have been left wondering how to structure their workforce policies. Now, recent developments suggest that the FTC may be rethinking its approach, offering some clarity—though not yet certainty.

A New FTC Memo

The FTC has recently taken steps to address non-compete agreements, a long-debated issue in the job market. In a memo dated February 26, 2025, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced the creation of a Joint Labor Task Force to look into unfair labor practices, with non-compete agreements highlighted as a key focus. The memo states that non-compete agreements can impose unnecessary, burdensome restrictions on workers, limiting their ability to switch jobs and negotiate higher wages. The task force is charged with investigating these agreements, sharing research on their impact, and recommending regulatory or legislative actions to address abusive practices.

Think the FTC is done taking on restrictive covenants? Think again!

December 5, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had ordered a building services contractor to stop enforcing a no-hire agreement. The agreement purportedly prohibited building owners and managers from hiring the contractor’s employees.

The FTC is all-in on its proposed noncompete ban, appealing the nationwide injunction against it.

October 21, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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On Friday afternoon, the Federal Trade Commission notified a federal judge in Texas who had previously entered a nationwide injunction against its sweeping noncompete ban that the agency would appeal her decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Continue reading

The FTC is appealing one of its non-compete losses. Should employers be nervous?

September 25, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission filed a notice of appeal with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, signifying that it will ask the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a trial judge’s August 15 decision to enjoin enforcement of its sweeping noncompete ban.

Should this concern employers? I’ll give you three reasons why it shouldn’t.

FTC: It may be more than a year before a court greenlights our non-compete rule — if at all

September 12, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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The Federal Trade Commission, the architects of the sweeping noncompete ban that a federal judge in Texas set aside last month, told a federal judge in Pennsylvania yesterday that an appeal of the Texas decision “would likely take months to fully brief and could take a year or longer until a final decision.” Continue reading

Three reasons why a Texas federal court may block the FTC’s noncompete rule nationwide

August 13, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

At noon ET today on Zoom, we aim to cover everything employers need to know now about the Federal Trade Commission’s blunderbuss Non-Compete Rule. (We may have a few seats left. Click here to register for this free Zoom powered by HRLearns.)

If we don’t actually cover “everything” this afternoon, I wanted to highlight here three arguments from a brief that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) filed yesterday in one of the pending lawsuits supporting a nationwide injunction of the Rule. Continue reading

Mark your calendars for two FREE employment law webinars this month.

August 8, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

noun-zoom-4051921 I receive email alerts from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that include information on upcoming webinars. Most of them cost money to attend. But every once in a while, there’s a freebie.

Like this one.

Join us on 8/13/24 at Noon ET for “Everything Employers Need to Know Now About the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule”

July 29, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

The FTC’s rule banning non-competes takes effect on September 4, 2024. Before then, employers must notify most employees that their noncompetition agreements are unenforceable. However, several pending lawsuits aim to block the rule. Although, none have succeeded…yet. What does the Rule require? What are the chances that these lawsuits will succeed? And what should businesses do between now and September besides clutch their pearls? We’ve assembled an all-star panel of employment lawyers to answer these questions and help your business prepare.

Join us on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT.

Click here to register for this free Zoom powered by HRLearns. Continue reading

🚨A Pennsylvania federal judge DENIED an employer’s request to block the FTC’s non-compete rule.🚨

July 24, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Do you remember that scene from Rounders, right after Mike McDermott spots Teddy KGB’s poker “tell,” when Teddy laments, “Hanging around…hanging around… kid’s got alligator blood. Can’t get rid of him.“?

It feels that way, with the Federal Trade Commission’s non-compete Rule imposing a comprehensive ban on new non-competes with all workers. Continue reading

Heads up, Pennsylvania healthcare providers! The Commonwealth passed a new noncompete law.

July 23, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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With most eyes focused on a pending lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to eliminate the FTC’s noncompete ban, local employers may have missed the news last week that Governor Shapiro signed into law a measure restricting the use of non-competition agreements in the healthcare industry.