As we mark 20 years of the financial health movement, it is energizing to consider the immense advancements we’ve made in partnership with so many of you. In that time, more than 170 organizations have answered our call to measure the financial health of their customers, employees, and communities.

As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s recent rule effectively banning noncompete agreements sends shock waves across the business world, this often misunderstood employment tool is in the spotlight. Typically considered the sole province of executives, nearly 1 in 5 workers are subject to a noncompete – including some fast food workers. So are these agreements essential to protect a company's proprietary assets, or are they a blunt tool whose utility has been overextended to create anti-competitive practices? If the noncompete ban stands, what might this mean for workers, their financial health, and our broader economy? In the opening episode of our special EMERGE Everywhere Workplace mini-series, host Matt Bahl, head of workplace financial health, dives into the details of noncompetes with University of Maryland Associate Professor Evan Starr, whose research directly informed the FTC’s rulemaking. Note for Listeners: Since we recorded this episode, multiple conflicting lower court rulings have risen which all but guarantees noncompetes will be taken to the Supreme Court. Regardless, this episode focuses on the past, present, and potential future of noncompetes and their financial health impacts.

As people struggle to make ends meet amid a cost-of-living crisis, employers play a critical role in supporting workers’ financial health. Research shows that creating good jobs isn’t just the right thing to do, but also the profitable thing to do – improving employee satisfaction, company performance, and market competitiveness. Listen in as Zeynep Ton, Professor of the Practice at MIT Sloan School of Management and Co-Founder and President of the Good Jobs Institute, makes the business case for investing in good jobs and shares ways to implement a good jobs approach.