While a ban on noncompete clauses hangs in the balance of federal courts, a Wisconsin legal scholar says the state can protect workers by tightening its own law around the clauses.
The Federal Trade Commission in April argued that noncompete clauses stifle innovation and suppress worker wages. During the public comment period, the agency received over 26,000 comments, with more than 25,000 of them in support of the proposed ban on the clauses.
But before the ban was set to go into effect, a district court judge in Texas struck it down last month, saying the new rule was unlawful. The FTC has said it is considering an appeal.
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An estimated 30 million American workers are under a noncompete clause, according to the FTC. That means there are limits on the kinds of jobs they can seek if they leave their current employer.
Alexia Kulwiec, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Workers, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that noncompete clauses were historically intended for senior-level executives with access to trade secrets and clients lists. But now, she said these clauses have “creeped” into employment contracts for all kinds of workers.
“We have seen it in fast food. We’ve seen it in construction. We see it in medical offices. We’ve seen it in engineering,” she said. “It used to be much more common when folks had access to very confidential information, but today … it has really...
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