Laws governing non-compete agreements vary from state to state. Certain states, such as California, North Dakota and Oklahoma, ban non-compete agreements entirely.

The White House is pressuring states to follow suit, and to ban non-compete agreements for certain employees and in certain industries, stating that that non-compete agreements unfairly limit the ability of workers to jump from one company to another. Specifically, the White House is advocating for the ban of non-compete agreements as to low-wage employees who are unlikely to know trade secrets, health and safety employees, and employees laid off through no fault of their own.

This announcement comes on the heels of last week’s announcement by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission that they would launch criminal investigations into companies caught colluding on salaries or agreeing not to hire each other’s employees.