The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday proposed a rule banning noncompete clauses in employment contracts, a tool many corporate legal departments embrace to protect trade secrets and avoid losing customers.

FTC Commissioner Lina Khan called noncompetes unfair to workers and said eliminating the restriction would raise wages and encourage competition.

The proposal comes just a day after the agency announced an enforcement action against a string of companies it said imposed "harmful" noncompete restrictions on thousands of workers for jobs ranging from engineers to security guards.