Amazon is rolling back a controversial non-compete clause in its contracts for warehouse workers (including temporary ones) that could have kept them from working at competing companies for a year and a half. "That clause hasn’t been applied to hourly associates, and we’re removing it," a company spokesperson told The Guardian.

The controversial contract details were first reported by The Verge yesterday, and quickly drew public ire given their broad scope. Amazon sells just about everything, and the clause in question prohibited workers from going to a company that "directly or indirectly" competed with Amazon for a year and a half after their tenure. Even if Amazon never enforced the contract, it could still discourage workers from seeking employment elsewhere. Amazon also required workers to reaffirm their contracts, which included the non-compete clause, in exchange for severance after being laid off.

Amazon did not respond to repeated requests for comments before the publishing of The Verge's initial report on the contracts, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this latest change.