At public meeting, FTC indicated intent to prosecute unreasonable noncompetes

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a half-day program on January 27, 2026, focused on employee noncompetes. The FTC indicated its intent to pursue prosecution of agreements that violate antitrust or otherwise inappropriately limit employee choice. However, the commission is not reproposing the prior rule banning all noncompetes. If workers have issues, the agency suggests they contact the FTC at noncompete@FTC.gov for assistance.

Looking for reasonableness

The FTC states that it has adequate existing rules and legal precedent to pursue these issues on behalf of employees without regulatory changes, with a focus on the “reasonableness” of any agreement.

Recognizing that noncompetes can negatively affect employee opportunity and the ability of an employer to expand its business because of a limited staffing pool, the FTC stated it will focus, like earlier court decisions, on reasonableness. Suppression of competition is not considered a reasonable purpose and likely would violate FTC expectations. The definition of competition is fairly broad, including, in part, “competing for workers.”

Case-by-case