comment: >
  
  I signed a NDA and non-compete which said i nor my heirs can work for any other company in the industry, world wide, and for the entire life of both me and my heirs.
  i consulted with a contract lawyer who said it would 100% not hold up and was entirely worthless. I signed it, left 8 years later and started a competing company 30 minutes down the road. They took no action.
context: The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced settlements with three companies that made workers sign noncompete agreements, in which they promised not to work for competitors for a period of time after leaving their jobs. It is the first time that the FTC has taken legal action on noncompetes — restrictions that have grown increasingly popular with employers in recent years and that tend to lower workers' wages by reducing their options.
  
  
  The FTC on Thursday proposed a wholesale ban on noncompete agreements between businesses and workers. 
  
  
  Michigan-based Prudential Security and Prudential Command allegedly required more than a thousand minimum-wage security guards to sign noncompetes, going so far as to sue former employees who left for better jobs, the FTC said in a complaint. Prudential's agreements threatened workers with a $100,000 penalty if they took jobs with a competitor within a 100-mile radius within two years of leaving, the complaint stated.
  
  
  In 2019, a Michigan court found that the noncompetes were "unreasonable and unenforceable under state law," but the company continued to impose these agreements on their workers, according to the FTC.
  
  
  "These cases highlight how noncompetes can block workers from securing higher wages and prevent businesses from being able to compete," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. 
  
  
  under the FTC settlement, Prudential and its former owners, Greg Wier and Matthew Keywell, must notify workers that they are no longer bound by noncompetes. They also agree not to use noncompetes in any future businesses. 
  
  
  "Titan ( new owner co) does not and has never imposed noncompete restrictions on its security officers. We applaud the FTC's efforts to halt unlawful noncompete restrictions and to protect workers," the spokesperson said in a statement.
  
  
  Noncompetes have become increasingly common, with one study finding that one-third of businesses require their workers to sign away future economic rights in some way. The Biden administration has made restoring competition a major plank of its economic policy, issuing an executive order in 2021 to limit monopolistic behavior.
  
  
  The FTC estimates that banning noncompetes nationwide would raise workers' wages by $250 to $300 billion a year. >
  
  $300 billion a year that is robbed from employees. Across 164 million employees. That’s $1829 per person, per year. But let’s not forget most of these wages would be paid to people of lower incomes: so for most people the results would be far higher than this. >
  
  That's $304 a month for six months. For one person that is food for half the year. >
  
  Imagine having the grocery bill just covered like that. >
  
  They’re boss sure did. >
  
  I lost a big studio gig because I refused to sign a non compete. Fuck everyone who makes that shit mandatory. >
  
  I’ve known people who’ve been asked to singe no /competes for $30k jobs. It’s insane.