#noncompetes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #noncompetes, aggregated by home.social.
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Two days ago:
~ Judge Tosses FTC Ban on Noncompete Agreements~
Commission doesn’t have the authority to issue the ban, judge finds
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Two days ago:
~ Judge Tosses FTC Ban on Noncompete Agreements~
Commission doesn’t have the authority to issue the ban, judge finds
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@kkarhan @parismarx And in the case of #noncompetes , the former employer has to pay for the time the employee refuses to compete. #workersOfTheWorldUnite
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“The FTC’s final rule to #ban #noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement after the vote.
The rule is set to take effect after 120 days,
but business groups vowed to challenge it in court, arguing that the FTC greatly overstepped its authority and enacted a rule that will hurt companies.U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne P. Clark in a statement blasted the agency’s new rule as “a blatant power grab that will undermine American businesses’ ability to remain competitive.”
“The Chamber will sue the FTC to block this unnecessary and unlawful rule and put other agencies on notice that such overreach will not go unchecked,” Clark said.
The rule, recommended by President Biden as part of a 2021 executive order,
is the latest step in a major effort by the FTC to expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement. MScholars cite a body of research that shows ⭐️noncompete agreements suppress worker pay and entrepreneurship and make it more expensive for employers to hire workers bound by the covenants.⭐️
The rule states that new noncompete agreements will be banned for all workers after it takes effect.
Existing noncompete agreements will no longer be enforceable, except for senior executives, who the FTC says represent less than 1 percent of workers.
President Biden cheered the move Tuesday:
“Workers ought to have the right to choose who they want to work for.” -
“The FTC’s final rule to #ban #noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement after the vote.
The rule is set to take effect after 120 days,
but business groups vowed to challenge it in court, arguing that the FTC greatly overstepped its authority and enacted a rule that will hurt companies.U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne P. Clark in a statement blasted the agency’s new rule as “a blatant power grab that will undermine American businesses’ ability to remain competitive.”
“The Chamber will sue the FTC to block this unnecessary and unlawful rule and put other agencies on notice that such overreach will not go unchecked,” Clark said.
The rule, recommended by President Biden as part of a 2021 executive order,
is the latest step in a major effort by the FTC to expand the boundaries of antitrust enforcement. MScholars cite a body of research that shows ⭐️noncompete agreements suppress worker pay and entrepreneurship and make it more expensive for employers to hire workers bound by the covenants.⭐️
The rule states that new noncompete agreements will be banned for all workers after it takes effect.
Existing noncompete agreements will no longer be enforceable, except for senior executives, who the FTC says represent less than 1 percent of workers.
President Biden cheered the move Tuesday:
“Workers ought to have the right to choose who they want to work for.” -
It's nice that the #FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has made #NonCompetes illegal.
Now they need to make #ForcedArbitration illegal next. -
The #UnitedStatesFederalTradeCommissionFTC narrowly voted Tuesday to ban nearly all #NonCompetes employment agreements that typically prevent workers from joining competing #businesses or launching ones of their own.
The FTC received more than 26,000 public comments in the months leading up to the vote. Chair Lina #Khan referenced on Tuesday some of the stories she had heard from workers.https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246655366/ftc-bans-noncompete-agreements-lina-khan
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The #UnitedStatesFederalTradeCommissionFTC narrowly voted Tuesday to ban nearly all #NonCompetes employment agreements that typically prevent workers from joining competing #businesses or launching ones of their own.
The FTC received more than 26,000 public comments in the months leading up to the vote. Chair Lina #Khan referenced on Tuesday some of the stories she had heard from workers.https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246655366/ftc-bans-noncompete-agreements-lina-khan
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Economist Dean Baker on upcoming US Federal Trade Commission hearings on non-compete clauses, which have spread well beyond highly paid employees:
"Anyone who thinks that making [non-competes] unenforceable would be a case of the government interfering in the market needs to think further. The government *always* decides what sort of contracts it will enforce."
https://cepr.net/noncompete-clauses-markets-are-made-not-given-by-nature/
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Economist Dean Baker on upcoming US Federal Trade Commission hearings on non-compete clauses, which have spread well beyond highly paid employees:
"Anyone who thinks that making [non-competes] unenforceable would be a case of the government interfering in the market needs to think further. The government *always* decides what sort of contracts it will enforce."
https://cepr.net/noncompete-clauses-markets-are-made-not-given-by-nature/
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From dance instructors to boilermakers: Labor says non-compete clauses are holding back wages https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/04/labor-andrew-leigh-speech-franchise-business-non-compete-clauses-suppress-wages
Andrew Leigh takes aim at ‘agreements between competitors’ not to poach workers, saying regulating the practice could lead to bigger pay rises
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From dance instructors to boilermakers: Labor says non-compete clauses are holding back wages https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/04/labor-andrew-leigh-speech-franchise-business-non-compete-clauses-suppress-wages
Andrew Leigh takes aim at ‘agreements between competitors’ not to poach workers, saying regulating the practice could lead to bigger pay rises
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CW: Long thread/10
At the same time, the FTC has *also* taken up labor rights, using its *much* broader powers to do things like ban #noncompetes nationwide, unshackling workers from bosses who claim the right to veto who else they can work for:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
But the NLRB doesn't make the FTC redundant, or vice-versa. The NLRB role is principally reactive, punishing wrongdoing after it occurs.
10/
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CW: Long thread/10
At the same time, the FTC has *also* taken up labor rights, using its *much* broader powers to do things like ban #noncompetes nationwide, unshackling workers from bosses who claim the right to veto who else they can work for:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
But the NLRB doesn't make the FTC redundant, or vice-versa. The NLRB role is principally reactive, punishing wrongdoing after it occurs.
10/
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CW: Long thread/20
These amendments were just *wild*. Rep. #ScottFitzgerald (R-WI) introduced an amendment that would give companies carte blanche to stick you with unlimited #JunkFees, and allow corporations to take away their workers' rights to change jobs through #noncompetes:
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/118th-congress/house-report/269
Another amendment would block the FTC from enforcing against "unfair methods of competition."
20/
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CW: Long thread/20
These amendments were just *wild*. Rep. #ScottFitzgerald (R-WI) introduced an amendment that would give companies carte blanche to stick you with unlimited #JunkFees, and allow corporations to take away their workers' rights to change jobs through #noncompetes:
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/118th-congress/house-report/269
Another amendment would block the FTC from enforcing against "unfair methods of competition."
20/
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CW: Long thread/36
Khan's wielding this broad power in all kinds of exciting ways. For example, she's seeking a ban on #noncompetes, a form of bondage that shackles workers to shitty bosses by making it illegal to work for anyone else in the same industry:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
36/
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CW: Long thread/36
Khan's wielding this broad power in all kinds of exciting ways. For example, she's seeking a ban on #noncompetes, a form of bondage that shackles workers to shitty bosses by making it illegal to work for anyone else in the same industry:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
36/
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This is big.
FTC Seeks to Ban Employee Non-Competeshttps://bep.legal/blog/f/ftc-seeks-to-ban-employee-non-competes #EmploymentLaw #NonCompete #NonCompetes #Contracts #Lawfedi @icymi_law @law
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CW: Long thread/23
III. They were able to *hoard* the twiddling, using laws like the #DMCA, #CFAA, #Noncompetes, #TradeSecrecy, and other "#IP" laws to control the conduct of their competitors, critics and customers:
https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/
That last point is important: it's not just that big corporations twiddle us to death - it's that they have made it illegal for us to twiddle back. Adblock is possible on the web, but to ad-block your #Iphone, you must first jailbreak it, which is a crime.
23/
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CW: Long thread/23
III. They were able to *hoard* the twiddling, using laws like the #DMCA, #CFAA, #Noncompetes, #TradeSecrecy, and other "#IP" laws to control the conduct of their competitors, critics and customers:
https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/
That last point is important: it's not just that big corporations twiddle us to death - it's that they have made it illegal for us to twiddle back. Adblock is possible on the web, but to ad-block your #Iphone, you must first jailbreak it, which is a crime.
23/
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CW: Long thread/24
These three - #TimWu, recently departed from the White House; #LinaKhan at the FTC; and #JonathanKanter at the DOJ - wasted no time turning word into deed, taking on mergers, addressing anticompetitive conduct (like blocking #noncompetes and protecting #RightToRepair), and filing suit against abusive firms:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/09/rest-in-piss-robert-bork/#harmful-dominance
24/
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CW: Long thread/24
These three - #TimWu, recently departed from the White House; #LinaKhan at the FTC; and #JonathanKanter at the DOJ - wasted no time turning word into deed, taking on mergers, addressing anticompetitive conduct (like blocking #noncompetes and protecting #RightToRepair), and filing suit against abusive firms:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/09/rest-in-piss-robert-bork/#harmful-dominance
24/
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CW: Long thread/6
#5yrsago Announcing the Catalog of Missing Devices: the amazing stuff the #DMCA has strangled in its cradle https://www.eff.org/missing-devices
#1yrago How #noncompetes shackle workers to dead-end jobs https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
#1yrago To fight #inflation, fight #monopolies https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#overinflated
6/
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CW: Long thread/6
#5yrsago Announcing the Catalog of Missing Devices: the amazing stuff the #DMCA has strangled in its cradle https://www.eff.org/missing-devices
#1yrago How #noncompetes shackle workers to dead-end jobs https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#neofeudal
#1yrago To fight #inflation, fight #monopolies https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#overinflated
6/
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This is one of those instances where conventional notice-and-comment and cost-benefit analysis really is a disservice to meaningful public participation. My proposal for "people's regulatory impact analyses" would seem to be a much better fit instead. https://www.theregreview.org/2019/08/05/goodwin-can-hip-hop-save-rulemaking/
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RT @FTC
Please note the updated deadline to tell us what you think about the proposed rule on #noncompetes is now …
https://twitter.com/FTC/status/1616120131926605830 -
Attention #FreeSoftware advocates: Did you catch my #SOFTWAREAct in the NH Legislature last year? Well, part of the feedback that I got on it was that I was trying to do too much in one bill, so this year I have split it up into several bills, two of which are being heard before the NH House Executive Departments & Administration Committee tomorrow! (Sorry for the short notice; I got behind on emails)
Specifically, the two bills being heard tomorrow are HB366, prohibiting certain noncompete clauses and nondisclosure agreements regarding free software projects and the sharing of open source software, and HB327, prohibiting the state from requiring the public use proprietary software when visiting state websites (which is basically to provide for #LibreJS compatibility on state websites).
HB366 text: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=187&type=4
HB327 text: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=189&type=4
It's probably too late by now to come and testify, but you can still contact the committee members via this page: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?id=3
#NHPolitics #noncompetes -
Attention #FreeSoftware advocates: Did you catch my #SOFTWAREAct in the NH Legislature last year? Well, part of the feedback that I got on it was that I was trying to do too much in one bill, so this year I have split it up into several bills, two of which are being heard before the NH House Executive Departments & Administration Committee tomorrow! (Sorry for the short notice; I got behind on emails)
Specifically, the two bills being heard tomorrow are HB366, prohibiting certain noncompete clauses and nondisclosure agreements regarding free software projects and the sharing of open source software, and HB327, prohibiting the state from requiring the public use proprietary software when visiting state websites (which is basically to provide for #LibreJS compatibility on state websites).
HB366 text: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=187&type=4
HB327 text: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=189&type=4
It's probably too late by now to come and testify, but you can still contact the committee members via this page: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?id=3
#NHPolitics #noncompetes -
The FTC is back to being the activist US agency progressives sought in 1914 | Robert Reich https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/12/ftc-non-compete-agreements-biden-chair?CMP=share_btn_tw Last week, under its Biden-appointed chair, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements – and it’s a big deal. #competition #FTC #noncompetes #employment
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The FTC is back to being the activist US agency progressives sought in 1914 | Robert Reich https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/12/ftc-non-compete-agreements-biden-chair?CMP=share_btn_tw Last week, under its Biden-appointed chair, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements – and it’s a big deal. #competition #FTC #noncompetes #employment
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It's about damned time. Non-compete clauses and agreements have held labor back for too long. It's one of the major reasons why small businesses don't get formed and fail. It's one of the most predatory and preemptive barriers to entry for new companies in every industry.
How about that @rbreich ?
#FTC #Noncompetes #Labor #FreedomOfEconomicMovement
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/3800485-ftc-unveils-proposal-to-ban-noncompete-clauses/
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The FTC banning non-competes would be big news. Non-competes are too often used for ridiculous reasons as a restriction on workers and go against the idea of an open market. Businesses should make their key employees want to stay rather than punishing them if they leave.
However, I am not sure whether such a pro-worker move would survive a legal challenge, especially with such a pro-business SCOTUS.
