Ohio lawmakers propose ban on most noncompete agreements

Farah Siddiqi

By Kaleb Clark / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Ohio Senate Bill 11 would eliminate noncompete agreements at most workplaces. Proponents say this would allow workers more freedom to go from one job to the next. But others warn that non-compete clauses are in place so that individuals don’t go to a competing workplace or company and reveal valuable assets. 

In general, noncompete agreements restrict the ability of workers to go to work for their employer’s competitors for a certain amount of time after leaving their jobs. 

“These are hurting my constituents disproportionately because they're getting their first jobs out of college and they're trying to pay for school, and these noncompete agreements are being used to stifle them, moving up into the ranks of employment," said Senator William Demora, D-Columbus, a co-sponsor of the bill with Sen. Louis Blessing, R-Colerain Township.

“If somebody offers them more wages or better working conditions to work the same job…to pay them more and give them better benefits, they should be able to go take that job to provide better for their family,” Demora added.

Four states — California, Minnesota, North Dakota and Oklahoma — ban all noncompete agreements, according to the Economic Innovation Group, a national organization that advocates against them. Many other states have some restrictions on how they can be used.

“Non-competition agreements hurt workers, employers and the public without doing anything more to prevent unfair competition than existing tools,” wrote Neil Klingshirn in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Klingshirn is a partner at Employment Law Partners, a firm in Independence, who has represented workers and businesses that have had trouble with non-compete agreements for 40 years. He explains that non-competes do little good but mostly harm.

“While non-competes may battle unfair competition, it’s like using a lawnmower to weed a garden," Klingshirn wrote.“When you’re done, you don’t have weeds, but you don’t have much of a garden, either.”

Tony Long, General Counsel at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, said the change could be “harmful… for some employers that rely on these to protect information and technology.”

He doesn’t believe Ohio should ban all noncompete agreements. Instead, he’d like to see more of a “balanced approach,” and said he is working with Chamber of Commerce member companies to try to get the bill amended.

“We just feel that more conversation has to be held on, ‘how do you protect with a non-solicitation agreement, a trade secret agreement, a confidentiality agreement, those types of things?’”

Demora, the bill’s co-sponsor, says the bill’s pros still outweigh these drawbacks. 

“I think the Chamber is a little short-sighted, because in the end, this is helping. If you help workers, you help the business,” he said. “If workers are happier, they're more productive, and they're more willing to stay on longer.”


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.