“The FTC estimates about 30 million people, or one in five American workers, from minimum wage earners to CEOs, are bound by noncompetes.”
The FTC voted 3 to 2 to ban nearly all noncompetes and puts the wage gain at nearly $300 billion a year. The one carve-out keeps existing noncompetes for senior executives, the only workers who had lawyers at the table. The Chamber of Commerce announced its lawsuit shortly after the vote. Business says noncompetes protect training investment, a strange defense of a contract that binds minimum wage earners.