Written by Tyson Gorman with the assistance of Drayden Burton
FTC Issues Noncompete Warning Letters to Healthcare Employers and Staffing Companies
On September 10, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent letters to several large healthcare employers and staffing firms instructing them to review their employment agreements to ensure they did not contain improper non-compete agreements and were compliant with federal laws. The letters stated: “The FTC is committed to rooting out unfair and anticompetitive conduct in labor markets and the healthcare sector.” Specifically with regard to the healthcare industry, the FTC is cracking down on non-competes in employment contracts that limit employment options in roles such as nurses, physicians, and other medical professionals.
This action, coupled with the Gateway Services complaint just one week prior, emphasizes that just because the FTC has withdrawn from the blanket non-compete rule promulgated under the Biden administration it does not mean that they are abandoning the enforcement of non-competes. The FTC has shifted its focus to taking enforcement actions on a case-by-case basis to crack down in instances where non-compete agreements unduly restrain the free movement of workers and labor without a legitimate business justification.
The FTC is ramping up enforcement, particularly in the healthcare industry, against across the board use of non-competes. This applies across all industries, so businesses and employers should carefully review their employment agreements for non-competes that do not comply with federal laws.
Again, if your organization hasn’t reviewed its non-compete agreements, now is the time to do so.
