Dive Brief:

• In a controversial case, legal news site Law360 will no longer require many of its employees to sign noncompete agreements following a settlement reached with the New York Attorney General, according to the New York Business Journal.
• The agreement comes on the heels of an investigation by the New York AG's office into whether companies that require junior-level employees to sign such agreements are violating New York labor laws.
• Non-compete clauses, which ban exiting employees from taking jobs with their ex-employer's competitors for a specific period, have become more common for a range of jobs. They originally were designed for mostly senior or technical positions, but now they are attracting government scrutiny.

Dive Insight:

“Unless an individual has highly unique skills or access to trade secrets, noncompete clauses have no place in a worker’s employment contract,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement announcing the settlement. “Unscrupulous noncompete agreements not only threaten workers seeking to change jobs, they also serve as a veiled threat to employers who may be reluctant to hire candidates due to the mere existence of a noncompete agreement."

Now, New York City-based Law360 will abstain from requiring the majority of its editorial employees to sign noncompete agreements. The site will also let both current employees and those who departed within the last year know that the noncompete agreements no longer apply.

The use of noncompetes is getting out of hand in the view of some observers, as food delivery companies and other employers have even made unskilled workers sign them. The White House is starting to work with states to limit their use.