Letter to Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, and Thomas Perez, Secretary of the Department of Labor - Expressing Concerns Regarding Non-Compete Agreements in the Food Service Business
Letter
The Honorable Edith Ramirez
Chairwoman
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20580
The Honorable Thomas Perez
Secretary
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20210
Dear Chairwoman Ramirez and Secretary Perez:
We would like to express our serious concerns regarding reports of the use of non-compete agreements by some employers in the food service business. This hiring practice is clearly anti-competitive and intimidating to workers. As it is also inconsistent with trade and labor laws, we ask your agencies to investigate these disturbing reports.
A series of recent articles revealed that Jimmy John's, a popular sandwich restaurant franchise with more than 2,000 locations in 43 states, allegedly requires rank-and-file workers at its sandwich shops to sign non-competition covenants as a condition of their employment. The agreement reportedly restricts employees from working for any restaurant that serves sandwiches and operates a location within three miles of a Jimmy John's restaurant, both while employed by the company and up to two years after their employment has ended.
There is no justifiable business interest in imposing such a restriction on restaurant employees that are not privy to any of the company's proprietary information. Additionally, the excessive restrictions reportedly included in these agreements are simply not practical and go far beyond what could reasonably be considered a "competitor" to the original workplace location. For example, a recent article in The Huffington Post estimated that the restriction could effectively create a 6,000-square-mile blackout area.
Furthermore, we believe this practice can intimidate working individuals, many of whom are struggling to support themselves and their families while earning barely above the minimum wage. Forcing rank-and-file, low-wage workers to sign non-compete agreements also stifles the ability of these workers to seek out new opportunities for their own betterment, and runs counter to the American ideal of open competition, which allows individuals the opportunity to seek employment at higher wages.
Non-competition agreements may sometimes make sense for well-compensated core company leadership, who are privy to company secrets and strategies. However, applying them to a company's entire workforce looks more like bullying under color of law, as well as a violation of labor rights. Given the impact these agreements can have on the rights and freedoms of workers, as well as their potential to stifle market competition, we urge your agencies to investigate this practice, determine the impact these agreements have on both workers' rights and free competition, and take any necessary action to deter or prevent such agreements from impacting employees.
We thank you for your attention to this important matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Joseph Crowley
Linda Sánchez
Bobby L. Rush
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Gwen Moore
Earl Blumenauer
Charles B. Rangel
Juan Vargas
Keith Ellison
Alcee L. Hastings
Alan Grayson
Mark Pocan
Yvette D. Clarke
Raúl M. Grijalva
Grace Meng
Judy Chu
Mark Takano
George Miller
Barbara Lee
Luis V. Gutiérrez
Janice D. Schakowsky
Sander M. Levin
Rosa L. DeLauro
Gene Green
Michael M. Honda
Elijah E. Cummings
Donald M. Payne, Jr.
Donna F. Edwards
Niki Tsongas
Marcy Kaptur
José E. Serrano
André Carson
Jerrold Nadler
Sheila Jackson Lee
Al Green
Tim Ryan
James P. McGovern
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