The New York Legislature's passage last week of a noncompete ban could accelerate already-percolating efforts across the country to pass similar measures, employment attorneys say.

Gov. Kathy Hochul hasn't said whether she will sign the measure, which would impose a blanket ban on all future noncompete agreements. New York would be the fifth state to impose a noncompete ban, joining California, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Minnesota.

The New York bill also is notable for being more stringent than those other laws and also more stringent than the noncompete ban that the Federal Trade Commission proposed in January of this year. That proposal, which the commission is expected to vote on next April, includes a carve-out for substantial shareholders selling their businesses.