The General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“Board’) issued a Memorandum on May 30th delineating her position that noncompete agreements interfere with an employee’s rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”), and therefore an employer violates the Act by requiring an employee to sign one. The General Counsel is responsible for the prosecution of unfair labor practice cases and for the supervision of the NLRB field offices in their processing of cases. This is a huge development, and ultimately it will be up to the Board to decide whether to accept the General Counsel’s reasoning.
