Our columnist is less certain about the outright ban than he was two years ago.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
As the Legislature enters its final two weeks, keep an eye on the budget talks for a change that some Minnesota businesses and Republicans are eager to make — partly repealing the ban on noncompete agreements for workers in the state.
Legislators took up a bill that would have allowed businesses to impose noncompete agreements on all workers making over $500,000, and on those making over $120,000 who participated in the “creation, analysis or modification of confidential, proprietary or trade secret information.”
That bill hasn’t yet made it to the floor of either the House or Senate. Now, business trade groups are pressing House Republicans to use the noncompete measure as a negotiating weapon in talks over the state budget, which must get done by May 19.
Noncompetes are standalone contracts or clauses within larger employment agreements that forbid workers from going to work for a competitor for a specified time after leaving their employer. Critics see them as unreasonable restrictions on workers’ freedoms, while proponents say companies need them to safeguard their secrets and protect financial value.
Four other states also forbid them: California, Colorado, North Dakota and Oklahoma. That mix of red and blue states belies the partisan divide that emerged over noncompetes.
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