"It is unacceptable that non-compete agreements are being used to unnecessarily restrict entry-level workers from pursuing better employment opportunities," Rubio said.
The senators also asked for a study of state-level measures taken steps to limit non-compete agreements, and how these have impacted local economies.
"The use of non-competes has spread from highly technical fields into less technical and lower wage work, where they might reduce wage and benefit competition among employers and restrict employee's upward mobility--for no good reason," said the letter.
The head of the Catholic Social Workers' National Association said the practice of forcing employees, especially lower-wage employees, to sign non-compete agreements is contrary to America's founding ideals and violates the rights of workers.
"According to Catholic Social Teachings, our economy must serve the people," Kathleen Neher, co-founder and president of the CSWNA, told CNA.
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"Work provides more than money, it provides a sense of community, dignity and participation in God's creation.The basic rights of workers must be respected, which includes helping them grow and achieve their dreams," she said.
Non-compete agreements, she said, only increase the pressures faced by lower-wage workers who, Neher said, often are people students or people with fewer academic qualifications.
"We live in America, the land of opportunity," Neher said. "We should never place limits on possibilities for growth."
She warned that restrictions on workers like non-compete agreements would have negative impacts on their mental health, and the economy as a whole. Workers, she explained, achieve more when given the chance to do so.