As States Limit Noncompetes, D.C. on Verge of Outlawing Them

A near-total ban on employers barring their workers from jumping to jobs with competitors is on the District of Columbia Council agenda this week, placing the U.S. capital city at the vanguard of a movement to limit such restrictions.

The bill, which won unanimous support on its first D.C. Council vote Dec. 1, would bar employers from imposing noncompete agreements on anyone working for them other than doctors earning more than $250,000 per year. The legislation is scheduled for a final council vote Dec. 15.

Set as conditions of employment, such agreements are typically used to restrict a worker’s ...