Care.com因夸大工作数量和收入，被诉向FTC支付850万美元和解金美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）对Care.com采取了法律行动，原因是该公司在其平台上关于照护工作的可用性和潜在收入的广告中存在误导性陈述。这些广告经常夸大了工作的数量和可能的收入，同时还使用户难以取消他们的订阅。根据和解协议，Care.com必须支付850万美元用于消费者退款，并且要求公司未来在做出收入声明时必须实事求是，并简化订阅取消流程。此举不仅保护了消费者权益，也促进了更为诚信的市场环境。
近日，美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）与在线护理服务平台Care.com达成了一项重要的和解协议。此次和解，Care.com将支付850万美元，用于赔偿因其误导性广告和复杂的取消流程受损的消费者。
FTC指控Care.com在其平台上发布的护理工作的可用性和潜在收入方面存在误导性信息。此外，Care.com的订阅取消流程复杂，迫使消费者无法轻易取消服务，从而违反了消费者权益。
对此，Care.com表示，尽管公司对FTC的指控持有异议，并有信心通过法律途径争取正当权益，但最终决定选择和解，以避免长时间的诉讼消耗公司资源。Care.com强调，和解不代表对FTC指控的认可，公司的主要目标仍是为美国家庭及看护工作者提供高质量的服务。
Care.com回应称，他们一直致力于透明和公平地展示工作机会和薪资信息，任何误导消费者的行为都不符合公司的业务宗旨。关于FTC提出的取消订阅问题，Care.com承诺将进一步简化流程，确保消费者能够轻松管理其订阅。
此外，此次事件也引起了业界对护理经济透明度和公平性的广泛关注。随着护理服务需求的增加，消费者对透明度和公平交易的要求也日益增强。业内专家指出，此类和解案例可能会推动行业内更多的自我监管和改进，从而提高服务质量和消费者满意度。
长期以来，Care.com已在全美各地提供服务，帮助数百万家庭找到合适的看护资源。公司表示，尽管面临FTC的指控和和解，但会继续扩展其服务，确保为更多家庭和看护工作者创造价值。
FTC方面也表达了对和解结果的满意，认为这是保护消费者权益的重要一步。FTC表示将继续监督市场，确保所有企业都能遵守公平竞争和诚实宣传的原则。
总之，此次和解不仅解决了Care.com与FTC之间的法律纠纷，也为护理服务行业树立了一个公平交易和消费者保护的标杆。未来，Care.com及同行业的其他公司可能需要在确保广告真实性和提供消费者友好服务方面做出更多努力。
附录Care.com 的回应新闻稿
CARE.COM RESPONSE TO FTC AGREEMENT
At Care.com, we put our members first, providing valuable tools and resources to help families find care and caregivers find jobs.
Though we were fully prepared to litigate for the next several years if necessary and confident in our position, we decided to enter into an agreement with the FTC to resolve this matter now and keep our focus on helping our customers.
This settlement is in no way a validation of the FTC’s claims. In fact, the settlement requires no material change in how Care.com serves those who use its platform.
At a time when the care economy is under assault, when families are draining their savings to afford child care, when caregivers are leaving the profession and when our growing senior population is facing astronomical long term care costs, it is disappointing that the FTC has chosen to attack trusted businesses who are part of the solution.
We have been in business nearly 20 years, available in every state and every town in America. That kind of longevity and scale comes from putting customers first every day; helping millions of families access the care they need and connecting millions of caregivers with meaningful, well-paying jobs.
In response to the FTC’s press release, we wanted to clarify a few facts:
The presentation of available job opportunities: We would not be in business for long if we manipulated optics, inflated statistics and attempted to trick our customers. We have found that many care seekers prefer to see a level of interest in their job post before committing to a premium membership, and our basic service tier offers this “try before you buy” opportunity. When a seeker sees the array of caregivers available, the commitment to premium membership—which enables seekers to contact and hire caregivers—follows naturally.
Earnings data: Care.com does not set rates and we never make promises about earnings. The data we provide about posted rates is based solely on what families say they are willing to pay, which varies significantly. Given the size of our platform, the potential earnings data we provide is at scale, and helps maintain a balanced and fair market for care.
Cancellation process: Families and caregivers can and do cancel memberships at any time and for a variety of reasons, including having successfully found a caregiver or a job. Our members can easily cancel if they wish, and we are further streamlining the process for doing so. Cancellation instructions for desktop and mobile users are included in every confirmation email upon sign up, accessible in our Help Center and available through our Customer Care support team which also offers 24 hour support via chat.
Given the care crisis in America, we believe our collective energy as a country should be on solutions, not nitpicking attacks. Care.com intends to keep our focus on what matters: American families and the hardworking caregivers who support them.
FTC
2024年08月26日
FTC
德州联邦法官全国范围内推翻联邦贸易委员会禁止竞业限制协议的禁令On August 20, 2024, a federal judge in Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) nationwide ban on noncompete agreements, ruling that the ban exceeded the agency's statutory authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. This decision, just 15 days before the ban was set to take effect, marks a significant victory for employers, particularly in the healthcare sector, and a setback for medical workers who anticipated increased job mobility and wage growth. The ruling also aligns with concerns from the American Hospital Association and other industry groups regarding the potential disruptive impact of the ban. The FTC is considering an appeal, but the ruling emphasizes the ongoing legal challenges surrounding the agency's authority to regulate noncompete agreements.
德克萨斯州一位联邦法官周二推翻了联邦贸易委员会（FTC）对雇佣合同中竞业限制协议的禁令，裁定该禁令违反了《行政程序法》并超出了该机构的法定权限。
这一裁决适用于全国范围，并在禁令原定于9月4日生效前15天作出。
美国德克萨斯北区地方法院的艾达·布朗法官上个月已经做出裁定，初步禁止FTC的竞业限制禁令，但仅限于本案的原告。
然而，布朗法官在8月20日的决定中完全取消了这一规定，因为她写道，APA“并未考虑针对特定当事方的救济”。
这一决定是对美国商会——全国最大的商业游说团体——的胜利，商会与一家税务公司一起提起了诉讼。
对于医疗行业而言，这一裁决则是喜忧参半。禁令原本被认为可以帮助被限制性合同束缚的医生、护士和其他医疗工作者更容易换工作，并可能促使工资上涨。
据美国医学会称，大约35%到45%的医生受到竞业限制协议的约束。
然而，关于禁令仍有一些悬而未决的问题，包括FTC是否有法律权力颁布此禁令、是否适用于非营利性医院以及它将如何影响并购活动、医生短缺和招聘工作，特别是对较小的地区系统。
强烈反对这一禁令的强大医院游说团体——美国医院协会，对法官的决定表示了赞扬。
“这一规定是监管权力的惊人宣示……更糟糕的是，委员会没有尝试理解它对医院、卫生系统以及他们所服务的患者所产生的破坏性影响，”AHA总法律顾问查德·戈尔德在与Healthcare Dive分享的声明中说。
与此同时，FTC发言人维多利亚·格雷厄姆表示，FTC正在“认真考虑”上诉。
格雷厄姆指出，布朗的裁决并未阻止监管机构通过个案执法来追究过度限制性的竞业限制协议。
今年4月，FTC以3票对2票通过了这项禁令，该禁令将使所有现有的竞业限制协议（除了一些高级管理人员外）不可执行，并禁止签订新的此类合同。两位共和党委员投票反对这一禁令，认为FTC没有国会授权来实施它。
在周二的裁决中，布朗法官认为《联邦贸易委员会法》确实赋予FTC“制定规则以排除不公平竞争方法”的某些权力，但该机构“没有创建实质性规则”的权力，比如竞业限制协议禁令。
这一观点得到了这样一个事实的支持，即国会没有为某些FTC法规的违反规定制裁措施，“这表明缺乏实质性效力”，她说。
布朗还得出结论认为，FTC的禁令在《行政程序法》意义上是任意和反复无常的，因为它不合理地过于宽泛且没有合理解释。
法官表示，该机构未能为其决定禁止所有竞业限制协议而不是针对具体有害协议提供证据。
布朗的裁决与7月23日支持FTC的宾夕法尼亚州联邦法官的裁决相冲突，该法官拒绝阻止禁令。上周，佛罗里达州的一位联邦法官也对禁令发布了有限的禁令，认为FTC可能超越了其法定权限。
这些不同的裁决表明，FTC是否有权禁止竞业限制条款的问题可能会面临上诉审查。
FTC
2024年08月24日
FTC
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）FTC 宣布全国范围内禁止竞业协议，详细请看
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）于2024年4月23日发布最终规定，全国范围内禁止非竞争协议。此举旨在通过保护工人更换工作的自由来促进竞争，增加创新，并推动经济增长。根据FTC的预测，新业务的形成将每年增加2.7%，预计每年将新增超过8500家新企业。此外，预计工人的平均收入将增加524美元，未来十年内医疗费用预计将减少高达1940亿美元。同时，预计该规定还将在未来十年内每年新增17000至29000项专利。
详情以英文版为准：
FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes
FTC’s final rule will generate over 8,500 new businesses each year, raise worker wages, lower health care costs, and boost innovation
Today, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule to promote competition by banning noncompetes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation.
“Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism, including from the more than 8,500 new startups that would be created a year once noncompetes are banned,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.”
The FTC estimates that the final rule banning noncompetes will lead to new business formation growing by 2.7% per year, resulting in more than 8,500 additional new businesses created each year. The final rule is expected to result in higher earnings for workers, with estimated earnings increasing for the average worker by an additional $524 per year, and it is expected to lower health care costs by up to $194 billion over the next decade. In addition, the final rule is expected to help drive innovation, leading to an estimated average increase of 17,000 to 29,000 more patents each year for the next 10 years under the final rule.
Noncompetes are a widespread and often exploitative practice imposing contractual conditions that prevent workers from taking a new job or starting a new business. Noncompetes often force workers to either stay in a job they want to leave or bear other significant harms and costs, such as being forced to switch to a lower-paying field, being forced to relocate, being forced to leave the workforce altogether, or being forced to defend against expensive litigation. An estimated 30 million workers—nearly one in five Americans—are subject to a noncompete.
Under the FTC’s new rule, existing noncompetes for the vast majority of workers will no longer be enforceable after the rule’s effective date. Existing noncompetes for senior executives - who represent less than 0.75% of workers - can remain in force under the FTC’s final rule, but employers are banned from entering into or attempting to enforce any new noncompetes, even if they involve senior executives. Employers will be required to provide notice to workers other than senior executives who are bound by an existing noncompete that they will not be enforcing any noncompetes against them.
In January 2023, the FTC issued a proposed rule which was subject to a 90-day public comment period. The FTC received more than 26,000 comments on the proposed rule, with over 25,000 comments in support of the FTC’s proposed ban on noncompetes. The comments informed the FTC’s final rulemaking process, with the FTC carefully reviewing each comment and making changes to the proposed rule in response to the public’s feedback.
In the final rule, the Commission has determined that it is an unfair method of competition, and therefore a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, for employers to enter into noncompetes with workers and to enforce certain noncompetes.
The Commission found that noncompetes tend to negatively affect competitive conditions in labor markets by inhibiting efficient matching between workers and employers. The Commission also found that noncompetes tend to negatively affect competitive conditions in product and service markets, inhibiting new business formation and innovation. There is also evidence that noncompetes lead to increased market concentration and higher prices for consumers.
Alternatives to Noncompetes
The Commission found that employers have several alternatives to noncompetes that still enable firms to protect their investments without having to enforce a noncompete.
Trade secret laws and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) both provide employers with well-established means to protect proprietary and other sensitive information. Researchers estimate that over 95% of workers with a noncompete already have an NDA.
The Commission also finds that instead of using noncompetes to lock in workers, employers that wish to retain employees can compete on the merits for the worker’s labor services by improving wages and working conditions.
Changes from the NPRM
Under the final rule, existing noncompetes for senior executives can remain in force. Employers, however, are prohibited from entering into or enforcing new noncompetes with senior executives. The final rule defines senior executives as workers earning more than $151,164 annually and who are in policy-making positions.
Additionally, the Commission has eliminated a provision in the proposed rule that would have required employers to legally modify existing noncompetes by formally rescinding them. That change will help to streamline compliance.
Instead, under the final rule, employers will simply have to provide notice to workers bound to an existing noncompete that the noncompete agreement will not be enforced against them in the future. To aid employers’ compliance with this requirement, the Commission has included model language in the final rule that employers can use to communicate to workers.
The Commission vote to approve the issuance of the final rule was 3-2 with Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew N. Ferguson voting no. Commissioners’ written statements will follow at a later date.
The final rule will become effective 120 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Once the rule is effective, market participants can report information about a suspected violation of the rule to the Bureau of Competition by emailing noncompete@ftc.gov.
The Federal Trade Commission develops policy initiatives on issues that affect competition, consumers, and the U.S. economy. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
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