Open Markets Applauds Introduction of Bipartisan Bill Banning Non-Compete Clauses in U.S.

Bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Murphy (D-CT) and Young (R-IN) 

Washington, DC -- Today, Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced the Workforce Mobility Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill which, if passed, will ban non-compete clauses for all workers in the United States. The bill would also establish public and private enforcement, protecting American workers from these oppressive contracts.

Employers use non-compete clauses to bar employees from joining competitors or starting their own firms. By compelling workers to remain at their current employers, non-compete clauses can restrict employees from taking their skills elsewhere in the same industry, road-blocking careers, driving down wages, and protecting monopolies.

“Non-competes strengthen the power of corporate employers at the expense of millions of workers across America,” said Open Markets Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan. “These unfair contracts depress competition among employers for workers and reduce job market mobility, lowering wages and wage growth and impeding new business creation. Banning non-competes would restore a basic right for American workers--the right to leave for greener pastures. This is a huge step in advancing worker freedom, and we applaud Senators Young and Murphy for taking it."

The bill’s introduction follows a March petition, led by the Open Markets Institute and joined by 19 labor and public interest groups and more than 40 individual advocates and scholars, demanding the Federal Trade Commission ban non-compete clauses nationwide.