As you may remember, the D.C. Council voted in December 2020 to ban noncompetes (in most instances) in the District.
Then, as you may also recall, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the bill on January 11. Given the Home Rule Act (section 1-206.02(c), for anyone who cares), the bill next had to be submitted to Congress for its approval or disapproval.
Well, on February 1, it was (finally) transmitted to Congress.
Now, the bill is expected to be approved by Congress and become law on March 19, 2021.
If the ban goes through, while it may or may not end well for D.C., it should at least provide a very interesting experiment for the researchers to, in time, assess the pros and cons of a ban on noncompetes.
But, more important at the moment, if the bill goes through, it requires some immediate affirmative conduct, and carries potentially hefty fines for violations. For the details, see A Close Look at D.C.’s Coming Noncompete Ban – 4 Things to Know and Do Now.
*Thanks to Erika Hahn for tracking the bill. Photo credit: David Mark.