[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5631 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5631

To prohibit employers from requiring employees to enter into covenants 
                not to compete, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2018

  Mr. Crowley (for himself, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Ellison, Mr. 
  Nadler, and Mr. Cicilline) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
     Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit employers from requiring employees to enter into covenants 
                not to compete, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Workforce Mobility Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETE.

    No employer shall enter into a covenant not to compete with any 
employee of such employer, who in any workweek is engaged in commerce 
or in the production of goods for commerce (or is employed in an 
enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 
commerce).

SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF ILLEGALITY OF COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETE IN 
              EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS.

    A covenant not to compete contained in an employment contract made 
between an employer and an employee is anticompetitive and violates the 
antitrust laws unless the employer establishes by a preponderance of 
the evidence that the covenant does not have an anticompetitive effect 
or that the pro-competitive effects outweigh the anticompetitive harm.

SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.

    (a) In General.--Any person who fails to comply with section 2 
shall be liable to any individual in an amount equal to the sum of--
            (1) any actual damages sustained by the individual as a 
        result of the failure;
            (2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow; 
        and
            (3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any 
        liability under this subsection, the costs of the action 
        together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the 
        court.
    (b) Venue.--Any person may bring a civil action under subsection 
(a) in any appropriate district court of the United States.

SEC. 5. TRADE SECRETS.

    Nothing in this Act shall preclude an employer from entering into 
an agreement with an employee to not share any information (including 
after the employee is no longer employed by the employer) regarding the 
employer or the employment that is a trade secret as defined in section 
1839 of title 18 of the United States Code.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Antitrust laws.--The term ``antitrust laws'' shall have 
        the meaning given such term in subsection (a) of the first 
        section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12), except that such 
        term shall include section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission 
        Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that such subsection applies 
        to unfair methods of competition.
            (2) Commerce.--The term ``commerce'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
        (29 U.S.C. 203).
            (3) Covenant not to compete.--The term ``covenant not to 
        compete'' means an agreement between an employer and an 
        employee that restricts such employee from performing--
                    (A) any work for another employer for a specified 
                period of time;
                    (B) any work in a specified geographical area; or
                    (C) any work for another employer that is similar 
                to such employee's work for the employer that is a 
                party to such agreement.
            (4) Employee.--The term ``employee'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
        (29 U.S.C. 203).
            (5) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
        (29 U.S.C. 203).
            (6) State.--The term State means any of the several States 
        or the District of Columbia.
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