Over 20 Public Interest, Labor Organizations Urge the FTC to Rulemaking to Ban Non-Competes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Decemer 14, 2022
CONTACT: Ashley Woolheater, woolheater@openmarketsinstitute.org
WASHINGTON- The Open Markets Institute and Public Citizen led a joint letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alongside consumer advocates and organized labor urging the agency to begin its work on a federal rule banning the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The letter explains how non-competes harm workers and our economy by restricting workers’ labor market mobility, depressing wages and preventing workers from starting new businesses.
Sandeep Vaheesan, Open Markets Legal Director, released the following statement:
“Non-compete clauses have been on the FTC's radar for several years. In July 2021, President Biden called on the FTC to regulate non-competes. Many of the groups on today's letter petitioned the FTC nearly four years ago to ban non-compete clauses for all workers. The FTC held a workshop on non-compete clauses in January 2020. Yet, the FTC still has not proposed a rule banning these coercive contracts, which restrict workers' labor market mobility and depress wages and new business formation. The FTC has squandered precious time over the better part of the past two years and must move expeditiously to propose a rule, solicit and review public comments, and publish a final rule. The FTC must ensure that no worker in the United States is made to sign a non-compete clause by their employer ever again.”
Matt Kent, competition policy advocate for Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“President Biden made clear in his executive order on competition that federal action on non-competes was a part of his administration’s approach to keep labor markets fair and open. The FTC must follow through and start the process. Banning this pervasive anti-worker practice is urgent and will only become more challenging as we approach the uncertainty of the 2024 election cycle. It would be a tragedy for FTC to waste the moment, the time to issue a proposed rule is now.”
Read the letter here.
Earlier today, Sandeep Vaheesan (with Najah Farley) also penned a piece in Project Syndicate laying out the harms of the growing use of non-competes to restrict workers and why the Biden Administration should act to ban them. Read “Why the US Must Ban Non-Compete Clauses” in Project Syndicate.
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