The topic I chose to discuss was surrounding non-compete contracts. Many of us have had to sign them and have made our managers sign them. The enforcement from an employer side has always been extremely difficult and I have never been a part of a lawsuit against a previous employee nor a prior company. Much of this has been surrounding the confusion of what is enforceable and what is not, especially in the state where our business resides. Washington State has now limited the potential of a non-compete to a specific earning limit. For independent contractors, the income must exceed $291,482.95. For employees, the income must exceed $116,593.18. In January, the PTC announced a proposal for working with the Department of Labor on a ban of non-competes for both independent contractors and employees. They stated that this leads to a lack of innovation and inhibits employees from being able to become an entrepreneur. While the public comment period has ended, this has yet to be proposed into an enforceable law. It is expected, per Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP, to be up against significant legal challenges if it progresses. There are many trade secrets that keep companies progressing forward and keeping those within a company is extremely important. Moving forward, it will be interesting to watch the FTC and DOLs ability to fight non-compete agreements.

How would you respond to Daniels post?