We have written critically about employment related non-competition agreements in the past. It is time to consider the subject again in light of recent positions taken by the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, both of which have condemned employment non-competes as inappropriate restraints on the American worker. Let us hasten to add that our comments do not relate to non-competes attached to business sales; in our case, we are concerned only with the employment arena.

There is no question but that employment non-competes are restraints of trade. They represent a balance drawn between the employee’s right to work where he will and society’s right to enjoy the unencumbered fruits of his labor, on the one hand, against the employer’s right to defend what are termed “protectible interests,” on the other. In Connecticut protectible interests are found in things such as securing trade secrets and confidential information, protecting an employer’s goodwill, and maintaining the confidentiality of its customer lists.