New legislation would prohibit the use of noncompete agreements for all employers in Washington state. 

The contracts are used to prevent employees from taking another job with a competitor or starting a related business within a certain distance or amount of time. 

Hardeep Rekhi, employment attorney and president of the Washington State Association for Justice, said all employees should be able to shop their skills around to any employer they want and noncompete agreements put workers in an unfair position. 

“What it does, it usually suppresses their wages. It makes it so they have fewer opportunities in already a difficult job market,” Rekhi said. “Sometimes it forces them to move out of the area, uproot kids, uproot family, because the employer just doesn’t want them working.” 

The bill would be an expansion of a 2020 state law limiting the use of noncompete agreements to employees making above about $120,000 a year. Sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, the bill will get public hearings in January once the legislative session starts. 

Proponents of noncompete agreements argued they are necessary in some fields to protect sensitive information. Rekhi clarified the legislation would not affect nondisclosure agreements, adding employers would still be fully able to enforce agreements preventing employees from revealing confidential product or service information. 

“They give this reason of disclosure of information, but really, what I think that the employer is doing is trying to suppress wages,” Rekhi said. “Because we know that if you have free markets, a person is going to get what they're worth in that free market.” 

Rekhi argued Washington has long been seen as a good state for workers, which benefits businesses and the change would make it better. 

“When you continue to create a good environment for employees, employers know that’s a good place to find employees and create home bases,” Rekhi said. 

This story was originally published by Washington News Service, a bureau of Public News Service, a national newswire with a local focus with state-level, public interest news.