Yes, non-compete clauses exist and they're in far too many contracts. It's called the court system:Noncompete agreements were originally supposed to be about protecting trade secrets, and therefore helping to promote innovation and investment in job training. Indeed, non-compete clauses exist and are just fine in their existence. There can’t be that many workers in possession of valuable trade secrets, especially when many of these workers are in relatively low-paying jobs. As my colleague Adriana Gardella has pointed out we have recent Federal Court of Appeal judgments knocking back excessively restrictive non-compete clauses.

Source: Forbes May 22, 2017 11:15 UTC