#business News

[reasonsforhope]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger King to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

Clearer explanation of noncompete agreements below the cut.

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

[queerism1969]

[mysharona1987]

Nobody wants to admit that Palestinians had nothing to with the Holocaust.

It was purely a white European thing.

But the Palestinians had nothing to with it.

[nando161mando]

[kingstinko]

Kent Brockman faves

[nenelonomh]

human resource management pt.2

i've begun posting my notes in tumblr post format to revise for my exam tomorrow (this was written on 27-05-24, i'm probably going to schedule though to avoid spamming). here's the second hrm topics post! here is the first part.

part 3 | part 4

in the last post, we looked at demographic change, employee welfare, and flexi-time. this time we will focus on the gig economy and immigration.

the gig economy is characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs. for example, freelance, delivery drivers, taxi services, contract services, and other flexible work opportunities. a huge example of this is uber - which is an app that offers various 'rides' to assist people to reach their destinations.

businesses can use gig workers by hiring them as independent contractors, in the place of full-time employees. this is a cheaper alternative for the business, as it saves on employee benefits and rids the need for training employees.

however, gig work limits workers' potential for career development, lacks job security and secure income, and the worker misses out on employee benefits.

compliance with labour laws and regulations can be complex when managing gig workers. companies must understand legal requirements and adapt their hrm policies to address gig workforce management.

immigration refers to the action of moving to live in a different location with intentions to stay in the area. this is not the same as labour mobility, since immigration is the movement of people for non-work-related reasons.

one advantage of immigration on businesses includes the filling of job positions that domestic workers cannot be placed in. also, the company may benefit from new points of view - and gain a niche marketing opportunity.

negatives of this topic are that migrant workers may be unfamiliar with federal laws and regulations, and the workers may be more unproductive than the local employees. therefore, a business may need to invest more time into the foreign employee.

///

again, hope this post was fun to read! it's definitely more fun to post than read over my notes.

❤️ nene

image source: pinterest

[kevins61]

Lovely relaxing morning on a restored railway in the countryside

[anitaradix]

XoXo.. I can’t figure out what to say exactly. Give it a perfect caption for me in the comment section. Thank you. Cheers

[emily63]

sorry that i’ve been too busy to make real posts, hopefully that’ll change soon

[vrstride]

How will technology change our lives?

I can't believe he did this with all of his money.

[queerism1969]

[joytri]

Hello, hello! This is my Economics Blog researching and writing about various policies, current affairs, and interesting facts related to Economics 📈🏛️ If you find the human mind, news, environmentalism, and business particularly fascinating, this is a blog you are sure to like. Do check us out!! We would be incredibly grateful for your support <3 Thank you!! 🌎✨

[workersolidarity]

🇺🇲 🏦 🚨 U.S. RETAIL SALES DOWN 3.1 pct YEAR-ON-YEAR FROM 2022

U.S. retail sales, excluding consumer vehicles, grew 3.1% year-on-year for the period from Nov. 1st 2023 to Dec. 24th 2023, according to preliminary data from the MasterCard Spending pulse report issued on Tuesday.

Previously, the U.S. economy recorded a 7.6% year-on-year expansion, writes Xinhua News Agency.

In further detail, online retail sales grew by 6.3% year-on-year, while brick-and-mortar retail only grew by 2.2% year-on-year.

Restaurant sales saw a year-on-year expansion of 7.8% for the same period, while sales in Jewelry shrank by 2% and sales in electronics were down 0.4%.

Data was based on non-inflation adjusted aggregate sales activity from the MasterCard payments network in combination with survey-based estimates for certain payment forms including cash and check.

Further, the U.S. National Retail Foundation forecast for holiday spending for Nov. and Dec. 2023 expected growth of a projected 3-4% over 2022 to between $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[nando161mando]

🤣

Mexico Magico: Police arrested a man who allegedly used a "Chucky" doll to scare people and rob them. The officers also arrested the doll and put it in handcuffs.