Employers are accustomed to following rules related to executive compensation from the DOL, IRS, and SEC. It may be time to add a new acronym to the list – the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).

On January 5, 2023, the FTC proposed a new federal antitrust regulation that would ban almost all non-compete agreements for employees. Citing authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, the rule asserts that employee non-compete clauses amount to an “unfair method of competition.” If enacted in its current form, the rule would broadly prohibit employers from entering into non-competes with workers across all industries and income levels – including those in the C suite. READ MORE