Beyond the Mixed Signals: Noncompete Clauses and Other Antitrust Labor Issues in 2025
The FTC's recent actions and statements regarding noncompete agreements may have seemed contradictory at first glance and had understandably left many employers and workers questioning the agency's true intentions.
While formally withdrawing its nationwide noncompete ban, the FTC had simultaneously ramped up targeted enforcement while actively seeking public input on allegedly anticompetitive noncompete practices. Rather than signaling a retreat, the FTC's shift away from broad rulemaking reflected a tactical adjustment to instead focus on particular employers and industries while creating ambiguity about what practices would be permitted. European precedent, by contrast, was relatively sparse but (more) consistent: noncompete clauses could not inadvertently amount to no-poach or wage-fixing agreements. The European Commission had recently issued its first fine for anticompetitive labor market practices, but this involved a no-poach agreement, the exchange of competitively sensitive information, and the allocation of geographic markets. For businesses, this ambiguity on both sides of the Atlantic meant that the risk of investigation and enforcement remained significant in both jurisdictions.
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Before proceeding, please note: If you are not a current client of Perkins Coie, please do not include any information in this e-mail that you or someone else considers to be of a confidential or secret nature. Perkins Coie has no duty to keep confidential any of the information you provide. Neither the transmission nor receipt of your information is considered a request for legal advice, securing or retaining a lawyer. An attorney-client relationship with Perkins Coie or any lawyer at Perkins Coie is not established until and unless Perkins Coie agrees to such a relationship as memorialized in a separate writing.