The More Things Change: . . . Congress Reintroduces the Workforce Mobility Act

While the text of the bills has not yet been released, Senator Murphy's website offers the general outline. The bill would:

Currently, each state is free to enact its own laws and courts can develop their own case law regarding NCAs. This new bill would take that power out of the states' hands and impose one uniform policy throughout the country.

More importantly, the bill would drastically limit the situations in which an employer could require an employee to sign an NCA to the dissolution of a partnership or sale of a business. Thus, employers would no longer be able to limit their employees' ability to go to work for a competitor, even if doing so would harm the employer's legitimate business interests. Competitors would be free to poach other businesses' most valuable employees, and there would be no legal remedy to stop it. In other words, this bill would cause a seismic shift in the landscape for NCAs and change the law as we know it throughout the country.

Employers would be wise to review their current NCAs and, if appropriate, consider amendments in the event this bill is enacted. It is unclear whether the bill will contain a grandfather provision for existing NCAs, so employers should get their houses in order now. We will review the text of the bill once it is made publicly available and keep an eye on its progress as it makes its way through Congress.

In the meantime, if you have questions about NCAs or the many legal issues that they create, feel free to contact Tom Muccifori, Chair of Archer's Trade Secret Protection and Non-Compete Group at 856-354-3056 or tmuccifori@archerlaw.com, or any member of the Group in: Haddonfield, NJ at 856-795-2121, Princeton, NJ at 609-580-3700, Hackensack, NJ at 201-342-6000, Philadelphia, PA. at 215-963-3300, or Wilmington, DE at 302-777-4350.