3 Ways the FTC's Noncompete Ban Will Affect Employers
The Federal Trade Commission's recently finalized rule imposing a near-total ban on companies making workers sign noncompete agreements marks a seismic change in the legal landscape that will spur new trends in litigation and ease the path for workers to leave jobs they don't like, experts say.
[...]
Businesses Will Turn to Other Types of Restrictive Covenants
If the legal challenges to the FTC's rule don't pan out and noncompete agreements largely become a thing of the past, companies that want to safeguard proprietary information will increasingly turn to other tools.
...
Blank Rome LLP partner Leigh Ann Buziak noted that one of the elements for pursuing a trade secrets claim is that a company took reasonable measures to protect that information, and "the most common way to protect a trade secret is to enter into a contract to protect that information." She cited confidentiality provisions, return-of-property provisions and nondisclosure pacts as contractual obligations that can safeguard companies' trade secrets.
"That panoply of tools have been and [are] still available. And you can just walk right into California to know that there is a robust body of case law and statutes for the protection of trade secrets and confidential and proprietary information," Buziak said.
To read the full article, please click here.
"3 Ways the FTC's Noncompete Ban Will Affect Employers," by Vin Gurrieri was published in Law360 Employment Authority on April 26, 2024.