Noncompete Policing Boosted With Second Agency Entering Fray

The Biden administration’s chief labor law enforcer created an immediate problem for employers that use noncompete agreements even as they await a broader ban on those restrictive contracts from another agency, the Federal Trade Commission.

Noncompete pacts violate federal labor law, with narrow exceptions, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced May 30. Abruzzo’s view of labor law isn’t binding precedent—that requires a ruling from the NLRB—but her announcement puts employers on notice that they could face allegations from the agency over their use of restrictive contracts.

“Even though it’s just Abruzzo’s theory, an employer can be ...