FTC Must Avoid ‘Whack-a-Mole’ to Make Its Noncompete Ban Stick

The fate of the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed bar of noncompete agreements hinges on the agency notching some early wins against a few companies to deter others from violating a ban.

The FTC will have to navigate a series of obstacles, from defending a final rule against legal challenges to deploying limited enforcement resources strategically, if it wants to pull off one of its most significant competition rulemakings in decades.

Unlike state bans on noncompete agreements, which often allow aggrieved workers to sue, only the FTC can enforce its own rules. That’s a tough problem for a federal agency that ...