A federal judge in Texas has struck down the government's ban on noncompetes. An estimated 30 million U.S. workers are subject to the employment agreements.
A federal judge in Texas has partially blocked the government's ban on noncompetes. An estimated 30 million U.S. workers are subject to the employment agreements.
Millions of American workers in all sorts of industries have signed some form of noncompete agreement. Their pervasiveness has led to situations where workers looking to change jobs can be locked out of their fields.
On today's episode: how one man tried to end noncompete contracts in his home state of Hawaii. And we update that story with news of a recent ruling from the Federal Trade Commission that could ban most noncompete agreements nationwide.
This episode was hosted by Erika Beras and Amanda Aronczyk. The original piece was produced by Dave Blanchard, edited by Ebony Reed, and engineered by Isaac Rodrigues. The update was reported and produced by Willa Rubin. It was edited by Keith Romer, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Josephine Nyounai.
Employers say that noncompete agreements are needed to protect trade secrets and investments. The FTC says they deprive workers of their economic liberties and has proposed a rule to ban them.
The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that bans the use of noncompete agreements, calling them an exploitative practice that suppresses wages and hampers innovation.
