I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5631 
To prohibit employers from requiring employees to enter into covenants not 
to compete, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2018 
Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. POCAN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
NADLER, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit employers from requiring employees to enter 
into covenants not to compete, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Mobility 
Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETE. 
No employer shall enter into a covenant not to com-
pete with any employee of such employer, who in any 
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workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production 
of goods for commerce (or is employed in an enterprise 
engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 
commerce). 
SEC. 3. PRESUMPTION OF ILLEGALITY OF COVENANTS NOT 
TO COMPETE IN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS. 
A covenant not to compete contained in an employ-
ment contract made between an employer and an employee 
is anticompetitive and violates the antitrust laws unless 
the employer establishes by a preponderance of the evi-
dence that the covenant does not have an anticompetitive 
effect or that the pro-competitive effects outweigh the 
anticompetitive harm. 
SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who fails to comply 
with section 2 shall be liable to any individual in an 
amount equal to the sum of— 
(1) any actual damages sustained by the indi-
vidual as a result of the failure; 
(2) such amount of punitive damages as the 
court may allow; and 
(3) in the case of any successful action to en-
force any liability under this subsection, the costs of 
the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees 
as determined by the court. 
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(b) VENUE.—Any person may bring a civil action 
under subsection (a) in any appropriate district court of 
the United States. 
SEC. 5. TRADE SECRETS. 
Nothing in this Act shall preclude an employer from 
entering into an agreement with an employee to not share 
any information (including after the employee is no longer 
employed by the employer) regarding the employer or the 
employment that is a trade secret as defined in section 
1839 of title 18 of the United States Code. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) ANTITRUST
LAWS.—The term ‘‘antitrust 
laws’’ shall have the meaning given such term in 
subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act 
(15 U.S.C. 12), except that such term shall include 
section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 45) to the extent that such subsection applies 
to unfair methods of competition. 
(2) COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘commerce’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 
(3) COVENANT NOT TO COMPETE.—The term 
‘‘covenant not to compete’’ means an agreement be-
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