The NLRB Joins the Fray: Another Attack on Non-Competes | Seyfarth Shaw

The FTC is not alone in taking aim at non-competitions. Yesterday, the NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers at the NLRB stating that non-competes in employment agreements and severance agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act except in rare circumstances. Specifically, Ms. Abruzzo claims that such covenants interfere with workers’ rights under Section 7 of the Act, which protects employees’ right to self-organize, join labor organizations, bargain collectively, and “engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” Thus, Ms. Abruzzo concluded,

