Under the National Labor Relations Act (“the Act”), specifically Section 8(a)(1), it is considered an unfair labor practice (“ULP”) for an employer “to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7” of the Act. Section 7 guarantees employees “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”
In a recent advice memorandum, published on June 26, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Division of Advice departed from the former NLRB General Counsel’s 2023 position (taken during the Biden administration) that overbroad noncompete agreements may violate the Act because they purportedly chill employees from exercising their Section 7 rights. The Division of Advice was asked to opine whether noncompete… Read the complete article here...
© 2026 Foley & Lardner LLP
