eSignature Licitness for Non-Compete Agreement in European Union

How to eSign a document: eSignature licitness for Non-Compete Agreement in European Union

Today, you've made a major announcement that helps millions of workers in America. Tell us what that is. Today, the FTC has finalized a rule that will eliminate the vast majority of non-compete clauses in people's contracts. A non-compete clause is a provision that basically prevents people from taking a job with a competitor or starting a competing business — usually within a particular geographic area and for a certain period of time. So, around 30 million American workers are covered by a non-compete. The incredible number of non-compete clauses for ordinary people ... to keep wages low. And so we're talking about fast food workers, security guards, nurses. We're talking about engineers, journalists, veterinarians. These are really people across sectors, across income levels. So, I could not work in my field for one full year within that radius. And I hope nobody has to go through what I went through because it was very, very emotional and very challenging. We heard from workers who were, working at a , got a better offer at a competing with higher wages, but because of the non-compete, they were locked in place. We heard stories from veterinarians who had to uproot themselves multiple times, switching states, all because a non-compete prevented them from being able to do business in the same state. When you think of the workers and the impact on their wages and earnings in America, what do you anticipate is going to happen as a result of this non-compete ban? Wages will go up. The average worker will make $529 more every year, which collectively means that tens of billions or hundreds of billions of dollars of wages will be going back to workers. Help people understand why that is. So, if there's hundreds of billions of dollars increasing in the economy, how did that happen? That would happen because, right now, workers are stuck in place because of these non-competes, and so, even if they get a better job opportunity with higher wages, with better benefits, they can't actually switch jobs, which is bad for those workers. It's also bad for other workers who won't have the opportunities that are not being created because of these non-competes. So, there's just less churn in the economy, overall. There's less dynamism, and that means that wages are lower than they should be. Corporate America, Chamber of Commerce, many of their allies want to fight this in the courtroom. The Chamber of Commerce told us today that the FTC's rulemaking is unlawful, and they told me today it's already contemplating legal action against it. What is our best understanding of why what you're doing today is legal and within your authority? So, the FTC Act that Congress passed clearly gives the FTC the authority to issue rules to carry out its obligations. The FTC Act also prohibits what are known as unfair methods of competition. The agency has determined that these non-competes are unfair methods of competition, and so we have the ability to issue a rule to outlaw them. As chair of the Federal Trade Commission, one of your goals is obviously to see more — see more competition in America. Is it fair to say that if workers were given more freedom of movement, that you might also see more businesses sprout up? Absolutely. A lot of the comments that we got were from workers that actually wanted to go start their own competing business. We heard from people in the asphalt business that saw an opportunity in the market, wanted to go start a rival firm, but weren't able to do so because they were locked in with a non-compete. And there's actually, correct me if I’m wrong, there's attorneys and bankers who make a decent income who are also affected by non-compete agreements, right? That’s right. I mean, we got comments from across the income level. People making near minimum wage, but also people making tens of thousands of dollars or even hundreds of thousands of dollars sharing stories about how non-competes had been devastating for their lives. We heard from doctors in rural America who shared how non-competes really limit their ability to continue providing care for their patients if they ever look to change employers. So, this is having real-world effects, harming Americans, and harming their communities. As you were talking, I was thinking of corporate [Merger & Acquisition] attorneys and big bankers at firms who work on mergers, and I would just want to make a point to them that Lina Khan's got your back. You’ll have more freedom of movement as a result of this non-compete ban.