On April 23, 2024, the FTC announced its Final Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Final Rule”), which bans post-employment non-compete clauses between employers and their workers. The Final Rule becomes effective 120 days after being published in the Federal Register (Effective Date).

On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a final rule that effectively bans all non-compete agreements between employers and “workers” as “unfair method[s] of competition” and requires employers to refrain from enforcing most existing non-compete agreements.

On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule on non-compete agreements, which broadly prohibits any workplace policy or contract that functionally operates as a post-employment non-compete restriction.

A non-compete agreement legally binds a current or former employee from competing with an employer for a specific time after employment ceases. Under such an agreement, the employee must not reveal any trade secrets learned during or after employment.