FTC Restricts Noncompete Agreements for Pest-Control Giant Rollins, Inc.
Federal Trade Commission
On April 15, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission issued an order against Rollins, Inc. to immediately cease the enforcement of noncompete agreements against its workforce.
The proposed consent order, which was accepted by a 2-0 Commission vote, is currently subject to a 30-day public comment period before finalization.
The regulatory mechanism within the proposed FTC order dictates that Rollins must completely cease and desist from entering, maintaining, enforcing, or threatening to enforce any noncompete agreements.
Furthermore, the order mandates that Rollins must provide formal notice to both current and former employees, explicitly informing them that they are no longer legally bound by these restrictive covenants and possess the right to compete against Rollins or establish their own competing enterprises.
Prior to this enforcement action, Rollins imposed noncompete agreements on nearly all its employees, restricting them from operating in the pest-control sector for two years following their separation from the company.
These agreements typically established a 75-mile restrictive radius around any of Rollins' more than 700 U.S. locations.
To enforce these parameters, the company systematically issued hundreds of threatening cease-and-desist letters to former workers and initiated multiple lawsuits citing alleged contract breaches.
Under the new directive, these enforcement efforts are halted, fundamentally restoring labor mobility, expanding market access, and allowing competitive business formation by former employees within these previously restricted geographic zones.
The jurisdictional scope of this FTC action directly binds Rollins, Inc. and its affiliated consumer brands, including Orkin, HomeTeam, and Critter Control.
The order explicitly applies to more than 18,000 employees nationwide, covering a broad classification of relatively low-wage workers such as pest-control technicians and customer-service representatives.
The FTC noted that these restrictions were imposed on employees who lacked the ability to negotiate the terms and received no incremental financial consideration or compensation for agreeing to the provisions.
Concurrently, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson issued formal warning letters to 13 other pest-control companies employing thousands of additional workers, advising them to conduct comprehensive reviews of their own employment contracts to ensure they do not contain similar anticompetitive clauses.
