Lexington, Kentucky-based Valvoline will no longer prevent its hourly employees from finding a job within 100 miles of their former worksite, following an agreement with a coalition of attorneys general, including Minnesota’s Keith Ellison.

The company previously required hourly workers to sign non-competition and non-solicitation agreements to be employed. The provisions kept employees from working in the oil change business within 100 miles of their former worksites and soliciting or hiring any Valvoline employees or customers for one year after ending their employment.

Valvoline stopped implementing non-competition agreements for hourly store employees in 2021, according to a statement emailed to Twin Cities Business.

About 30 millions American workers are under noncompete agreements, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Noncompete agreements were banned in Minnesota last summer, with exceptions for the sale of or dissolution of businesses.

Other attorneys general involved in the Valvoline agreement included those from New York, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The settlement will affect almost 300 current and former Valvoline employees in Minnesota, according to a Wednesday news release issued by Ellison’s office.

“Far too many employers use overbroad noncompete agreements to stifle competition, keep wages low, and treat workers unfairly,” Ellison said in the release.

Under the settlement, Valvoline has stopped requiring workers to sign the agreements and within 15 days must notify current and former employees that the agreements are no longer in effect. Valvoline may be liable for a $500,000 penalty from Ellison’s office if it violates the agreement in any coalition state, according to the news release.

Valvoline has more than 1,800 service center locations across the country.

[Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Valvoline]