The antitrust regulator said its preliminary finding is that restrictions that keep workers from switching jobs “constitute an unfair method of competition.” Non-compete clauses can lower wages and prevent new business creation by stopping workers from exiting employers, it noted. It launched a 60 day consultation on the proposed rule. (The Logic)

Talking point: In July 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the FTC to consider restrictions on the restriction, among a long list of directives to executive agencies designed to promote competition. The new rule would require employers to pull non-competes from any existing worker agreements, and not to include them in any new ones. California’s rejection of the clauses—which have mostly been unenforceable under state law since 1872—is credited with helping Silicon Valley’s tech boom. But proponents argue they’re necessary to protect firms’ investments and secrets. Up here, Ontario banned non-competes via legislation in December 2021, the first jurisdiction to do so. Federally, the Liberal government moved last year to criminalize wage fixing and no-poach agreements. But its proposals to overhaul the Competition Act don’t address non-competes.