The push of President Joe Biden Prohibit non-compete obligations Restricting a worker’s ability to leave a job for a competitor could represent a major change in the healthcare industry, where agreements are prevalent among doctors and nurses.
The Biden administration is in the final stages of an executive order. rule It prohibits employers in various industries from including clauses in employment contracts that prohibit workers from moving to competitors or starting their own businesses, he said. movement State of the Union address last week.
In the United States, the practice of having employees sign non-compete agreements has become commonplace, with the Biden administration estimating that one in five employees is bound by one. The practice is particularly prevalent in the health care industry, where large health systems and private equity firms increasingly buy group doctor’s offices and hospital staffing firms, offering new employees extensive non-compete contracts. medical group.
“It’s standard practice in many healthcare systems across the country to have all nurses sign,” said Jonah Meinser, senior policy adviser for the American Nurses Association. “They are very common nationwide and seem to be more common among younger nurses just entering the industry.”
For doctors and nurses, contracts often specify a geographic area in which they cannot practice medicine for one to two years after leaving or being laid off. In some cases, these geographic restrictions are so widespread that doctors and nurses are unable to work throughout the region and have to move to new cities or states or cease medical practice for a period of time. .
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