The FTC has proposed a new rule under ever-expanding Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act that would significantly ban non-compete agreements between employers and workers. If adopted, the Proposed Rule would supersede “inconsistent” state laws and also require employers to rescind certain existing non-compete clauses no later than 180 days after publication of the adopted rule. The FTC also recently filed enforcement actions against three companies and multiple executives for imposing non-compete restrictions on workers, and obtained voluntary consent decrees but there was no judicial review.
The proposed rule contains a limited exception for certain seller non-competes used in mergers and acquisitions, but still curtails buyers’ protections in the deal context.
Businesses in all industries, as well as private equity and M&A professionals, need to know about these developments. This webinar will help in-house counsel, HR professionals, investors and business leaders to consider what the proposed FTC rule could mean for their operations, how to best examine current business practices, and how to strengthen the defensible nature of non-compete agreements and similar arrangements.
The program will include significant time for questions in the Zoom chat from attendees.
CLE credit not provided.