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Ben Prager counsels employers in a wide array of labor and employment issues. Ben represents plaintiffs and defendants in actions involving trade secret misappropriation, breach of restrictive covenants, and wage-and-hour issues.

On January 5, 2023, in an announcement that could have sweeping implications for employers across the country, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that would ban employers from imposing noncompete clauses on their workers and invalidate all existing noncompetes currently in effect. The proposed rule would apply to independent contractors and anyone else working for an employer, whether paid or unpaid. The proposed rule would also require employers to rescind existing noncompetes and actively inform workers that these restrictions are no longer in effect.Continue Reading FTC Proposes National Ban on Noncompete Clauses

On September 27, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 1003 (AB 1003) into law. The purpose of AB 1003 is to make the intentional theft of wages punishable as grand theft under the California Penal Code and, therefore, a felony in California. Previously, violations of wage and gratuity provisions were classified as misdemeanors.
Continue Reading California Law Makes Intentional Wage Theft a Jailable Offense