Europe

18 November 2024: The European Commission ("EC") announces that it has carried out dawn raids on the premises of companies active in the data centre construction sector, on grounds in particular of potential collusion in the form of no-poach agreements.

4 October 2024: In the Diarra case (C-650/22), the European Court of Justice finds that some aspects of FIFA's transfer rules regarding financial compensation and imposing additional sporting sanctions on both club and player in case of early contract termination without "just cause" are incompatible with the guarantee of freedom of movement and EU competition law. See our alert here.

23 July 2024: The EC announces that it has opened its first formal investigation into an alleged no-poach agreement. The EC is investigating (following dawn raids) whether Delivery Hero and Glovo might have agreed not to hire each other's employees in the online food delivery sector. Other areas of investigation include whether Delivery Hero and Glovo may have allocated geographic markets and shared commercially sensitive information. The EC considers that these practices could have been facilitated by Delivery Hero's minority stake in Glovo.

May 2024: The EC publishes a policy brief on Antitrust and Labour Markets, explaining that wage-fixing and no-poach agreements have, by their very nature, the potential to restrict competition. Hence, they will likely be treated as "by object" restrictions. The brief also expresses a sceptical view on any potential exemptions available under EU competition law. Whilst indicating most enforcement will likely continue to occur at the national level, the policy brief is a sign that the EC is ready to use its competition law powers to tackle anti-competitive behaviour in labour markets. For more details see here. 

6 March 2024: The Director General for Competition, Olivier Guersent, states at the OECD Competition Open Day in Paris that the EC is investigating four or five no-poach agreements.

21 November 2023: The EC carries out unannounced inspections at premises of companies active in the online ordering and delivery of food, groceries and other consumer goods. The scope of investigation covers inter alia alleged no-poach agreements, possibly linked to a previously suspected geographic non-compete. 

22 September 2023: The Director General for Competition, Olivier Guersent, states in a speech that the EC is looking at some practices that used to be less on their radar, like no-poach agreements. 

21 June 2023: It is reported that the EC is investigating whether a Qualcomm subsidiary and TDK Electronics have agreed not to poach each others' employees. On 20 December 2023, it is reported that the preliminary investigation was being closed for "priority reasons".

13 June 2023: The European Parliament adopts its annual report on competition policy, in which it welcomes the EC's willingness to take into account the effects on labour markets and wages when determining the anti-competitiveness of collusive behaviour, and calls on the EC to carefully balance the potential effects on wages with the need to ensure a competitive market.

30 September 2022: The EC introduces new Guidelines that provide clarification on when specific self-employed individuals can collectively negotiate working conditions without violating EU competition law.

April 2022: Maria Jaspers, the head of the EC's cartel directorate, indicates at the American Bar Association Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington that the EC is currently looking at no-poach cases: "Although we have not pursued a [no-poach] case so far, these cases are certainly on our radar. We have a few cases that we are actively looking into and let's see what comes out of that." 

22 October 2021: Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager states in her speech on "A New Era of Cartel Enforcement" that the EC will be on the lookout for non-poach and wage fixing agreements. Margrethe Vestager states that:

• "There are markets where you can only compete if you have expensive machinery, or costly IP. And then there are those where the key to success is finding staff who have the right skills. So in these cases, a promise not to hire certain people can effectively be a promise not to innovate, or not to enter a new market"; and
• "[S]ome buyer cartels do have a very direct effect on individuals, as well as on competition…when they use so-called "no-poach" agreements as an indirect way to keep wages down, restricting talent from moving where it serves the economy best." 

16 December 2020: In the International Skating Union case, the General Court confirms that the eligibility rules that prohibited speed skaters to participate in competitions that were not approved by it are contrary to competition law. No fines imposed for exceptional reasons. The European Court of Justice is expected to rule on an appeal of the General Court's judgment on 21 December 2023, as well as a parallel case involving the Super League's attempt to set up a league to rival UEFA's Champions League and a dispute over a Belgian football club fostering homegrown talent.

11 September 2024: The Belgian competition authority announces that it has conducted dawn raids on the premises of several companies active in the supply of passenger transport services by bus and coach, on the grounds inter alia that the companies may have entered into agreements not to poach each other's personnel.

3 July 2024: The Belgian competition authority ("BCA") announces that it has imposed fines of EUR 47 million on three private security firms for collusive behaviour that included an agreement not to poach each other's employees. The no-poach agreement was treated as an infringement by object. The investigation was instigated following a leniency application, and the parties involved agreed to reduced fines following a settlement with the authority.

16 May 2022: The BCA publishes a notice on enforcement priorities expressing its desire to tackle competition imbalances in labour markets. The Authority will pay greater attention to enforcement of competition rules in the sports sector, focusing, among others, on no poaching agreements.

1 July 2024: The Czech competition authority initiates first administrative proceeding concerning no-poaching agreements. The possible agreement at stake was not to approach the other party's employees with a job offer and not to recruit them. The initiation of the proceeding does not mean that the parties have actually committed anti-competitive conduct and that a fine will be imposed.

19 October 2023: The Czech competition authority finds antitrust restrictions in the travel agencies labour market. As a result, two trade associations will withdraw recommendations regarding the use of non-compete clauses from their ethical codes. No fines imposed.

19 May 2023: The Czech competition authority issues a paper concerning agreements on the labour market. The publication deals with anti-competitive agreements relating to wages, rewards or non-recruitment of employees.

16 January 2024: The Danish competition authority (with the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Icelandic authorities) publish a joint Nordic report on competition and labour markets concluding that "evidence indicates it is not uncommon for companies in a range of industries to enter into agreements not to hire each other's employees, which suggest that there could be scope for more enforcement of competition law in labour markets in the Nordic region."

30 January 2008: The Danish competition authority concludes that a decision taken by the Trade Association of Local Banks, Savings Banks, and Cooperative Banks in Denmark ("LOPI") infringes competition law. LOPI had allegedly recommended to its members that they should refrain from headhunting new labour through direct contact with the employees of other banks, and had also accused its members of a lack of collegiality by marketing new employees from other member banks.

16 January 2024: The Finnish competition authority ("FCCA") (with the Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic authorities) publish a joint Nordic report on competition and labour markets concluding that "evidence indicates it is not uncommon for companies in a range of industries to enter into agreements not to hire each other's employees, which suggest that there could be scope for more enforcement of competition law in labour markets in the Nordic region."

30 December 2022: The Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland concludes that no-poach agreements in the health care sector are both unlawful and discriminatory.

1 January 2022: The amendment to the Finnish Employment Contracts Act comes into force introducing an obligation to pay specific compensation to employees who entered into post-employment non-competition restrictions. The remuneration for the non-competition period shall be at least 40% of the employee's regular salary for a duration of up to six months. The compensation will be at least 60% of the employee's regular salary if the non-competition period extends beyond six months.

2019: The FCCA decides that an agreement between hockey clubs of the top-tier league SM-Liiga breaches competition law. The league and its clubs had agreed inter alia not to hire players that had played for the club Jokerit (after Jokerit had moved to play in the Russian league KHL). The FCCA orders the implementation of the agreement to be terminated and imposes a conditional fine of €75,000 per party.

23 November 2023: The French Competition Authority ("FCA") states that it has sent a Statement of Objections to various businesses in the engineering, technology consulting and IT service sectors alleging that they have agreed not to hire each other's employees.

6 January 2023: The Directorate General for Consumer Affairs, Competition and Fraud Prevention imposes €0.14 million fine on three companies for reaching non-compete and non-poach agreements in the context of a merger in the market of non-ferrous metals recycling.

27 May 2021: The French Highest Court concludes that a clause by which a party prohibits itself from hiring, directly or indirectly, all the employees who have been employed by another party, is only lawful insofar as it is limited in time and space.

11 July 2019: The FCA publishes guidance on assessing the impact of sector labour agreements on competition.

15 September 2017: The French Ministry of Labour creates a working group (including officials from the FCA) to better tackle a balance between labour law, its benefits for workers and possible negative effects on competition.

19 October 2017: The FCA fines several floor manufacturers for entering into an agreement in relation to their commercial policies, including (among others) the exchange of confidential information on salaries and bonuses of personnel. In addition, a "gentleman's agreement" not to poach each other's employees was in place. The fine amounts to €302 million approx.

6 July 2017: The Court of Appeals of Paris confirms that three professional union of modelling agencies fixed model fees, wages and agency fees, breaching antitrust law. The fines amount to €465,000.

26 July 2016: The German competition authority fines three television studios for exchanging competitively sensitive information, including costs of staff and other information related to the benefits of the employees. The fines amount to € 3.1 million approx.

4 March 2022: The Hellenic competition authority imposes behavioural remedies on an elevator maintenance and installation trade association for setting minimum wages. The behaviour restricts competition between its members by imposing an unlawful minimum wage-setting clause, threatening to "indefinitely" remove those members from the association if they did not comply. 

18 December 2020: The Hungarian Competition Authority ("GVH") fines the Association of Hungarian HR Consulting Agencies for fixing minimum fees and including a no-poaching clause with respect to the recruitment services provided by its members for a period of seven years. The fine amounts to € 2.85 million approx.

20 March 2023: The Italian Courts confirm AGCM's decision finding that Radiotaxi's breached competition law for preventing member drivers from using other intermediaries. The fine amounted to €21,000.

14 June 2022: Taxi Turin removes a non-compete clause which discriminated against drivers who did not abide by the rules and it escapes a fine. The non-compete clause hindered drivers from using services of rival platforms. 

15 September 2020: The AGCM fines four Naples taxi operators for foreclosure of open platforms. The agreement includes an exclusivity clause where drivers are prohibited from using other apps. The fines amounted to around €17,000. 

26 October 2016: The AGCM fines eight fashion-modelling agencies and the industry association for participating in a cartel concerning price-fixing. The agencies coordinated prices relating to salaries, image rights, agency commission and model transfer costs between 2007 and 2015. The fines amount to €4.5 million approx.

23 June 2023: The Lithuanian competition authority ("KT") publishes its Guidance on anti-competitive agreements in labour markets. The guidance indicates that no-poach and similar agreements may have harmful effects not only on consumers and the competition landscape itself, but also on workers' "position and working conditions (…) such as their ability to find and hold a job that suits their interests and abilities, and to obtain a wage that satisfies them".

29 December 2022: The KT fines the Lithuanian Association of Real Estate Agencies and its 39 members for agreeing not to solicit each other's clients and brokers. The fine amounts to €0.97 million approx.

18 November 2021: The KT fines nation's basketball league and clubs for entering into an anti-competitive agreement regarding the conditions for the payment of player's salaries. After the termination of the 2019-2020 basketball championship, they decided not pay basketball players salaries or other financial remuneration for the rest of the season. The fines amount to €40,000 approx.

7 February 2023: The Dutch competition authority ("ACM") updates it is guidelines on price arrangements between self-employed workers allowing certain collective arrangements without breaching competition rules.

16 February 2022: The ACM warns employers that non-hiring arrangements are prohibited after receiving multiple reports about possible anticompetitive arrangements in the Dutch labour market.

26 November 2021: The ACM suspends investigation into possible wage-fixing supermarket cartel because employers and employees have agreed on a new collective agreement. The ACM detected that several supermarkets made arrangements regarding limited wage increase of 2.5 percent for their employees. 

26 November 2019: The ACM issues guidelines on price arrangements between self-employed workers explaining what type of arrangements are they allowed to make regarding rates. 

8 July 2024: The Polish competition authority ("UOKiK") opens an investigation into the practices of the Biedronka and Dino retail chains and the transport companies serving these companies. The suspicion is that transport companies may have concluded an agreement according to which they did not compete with each other for employees, and/or that these arrangements could have been coordinated by the retail chains.

6 June 2023: The UOKiK fines the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and Ekstraliga Żużlowa for unlawfully capping the salaries of speedway racers. The fines amount to €1.2 million.

25 October 2022: The UOKiK fines 16 clubs and the Polish Basketball League for agreeing not to pay the players all the salaries due for the season 2019/2020, which terminated their labour contracts earlier than agreed, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fines amount to €0.2 million.

25 May 2022: The UOKiK opens an infringement procedure against the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and PGE Ekstraliga, for establishing salary caps of speedway racers.

19 February 2025: The Portuguese Competition Authority ("AdC") fines three companies of the multinational technology consulting group Inetum a total of € 3,092,000 for engaging in anticompetitive practices in the labour market over a period of, at least, seven years. The AdC identified evidence suggesting that several companies, including Inetum Group, had entered into bilateral no-poach agreements. These agreements involved a mutual commitment between companies not to recruit and/or make unsolicited offers to employees of the participating firms.

5 April 2024: As part of a settlement agreement, The AdC fines a large technology company €278,000 for entering into no-poach agreements. In the same investigation, the ADC has already fined two multinational companies €1,323,000 and €2,481,000 respectively (reduced fines as a result of settlement and leniency).

15 December 2022: The ADC issues a Statement of Objections to laboratories and business association for alleged anticompetitive behaviour related to clinical analysis (including COVID tests), which took the form of a no poach agreement by committing not to bind/hire workers from competing laboratory groups.

28 April 2022: The AdC fines 31 sport clubs, along with the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) for participating in a no-poach agreement that prevented the clubs from hiring football players who had independently ended their employment contracts. The fines amount to €11.3 million. It has been reported that a Portuguese tribunal has sought guidance under a preliminary ruling request from the European Court of Justice regarding whether the no-poach agreement constitutes a restriction of competition "by object".

September 2021: The AdC publishes its Labor market agreements and competition policy paper addressing the legal framework and the precedent decisions regarding no-poach and wage-fixing agreements and their effects on the conditions of competition on the labour market.

June 2020: The AdC issues a recommendation to the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), advising them to avoid implementing a salary cap for each team participating in the Women's League.

27 January 2025: The Competition Council announces that it has launched an antitrust investigation of the Romanian College of Dentists, inter alia on the basis of a suspicion that the College may have introduced some restrictions on the recruitment of staff from one dental practice to another in order to share the market for specialised dental labour and to impose a minimum level of salary rights.

January 2022: The Competition Council investigates an alleged cartel involving seven automotive engineering and technology providers in the skilled/specialised labour force market for motor vehicle production and related activities. The authority suspects that the companies imposed a no-poach on each other's labour force which led to the maintenance of the level of salaries below the market level.

21 May 2024: The Slovak competition authority (AMO) launches an antitrust investigation into a national trade association that had adopted a code of ethics containing a provision that could have led to the restriction of competition on the labour market when hiring employees.

February 2024: It is reported that the Spanish competition authority ("CNMC") is revisiting concentrations that have already been cleared to investigate the impact of non-compete and no-poach clauses: (i) whose scope did not benefit from the merger control approval's safe harbour; and/or (ii) that have stopped being ancillary to the underlying concentration after a specific time period (typically two or three years). As part of this monitoring effort, the CNMC is sending requests for information to recently merged entities.

27 September 2023: The Catalan competition authority ("ACCO") fines the Association of Independent Private Schools of Catalonia for entering into a no-poach agreement. Private education companies that form part of the Association allegedly could not contact or recruit each other's employees (teaching staff) without prior consent. The fine amounts to € 75,500.

1 August 2023: The Catalan competition authority fines the association Elite Taxi for boycotting UBER and other platforms in Barcelona. Among others, ELITE issued guidelines on how its members should carry out the boycott and coercion actions against the targeted taxi drivers using UBER or other platforms. The fine amounts to € 122,910.

26 May 2022: The CNMC fines the Royal Canine Society of Spain for, among other practices, prohibiting its judges from engaging in competitors' events. The fine amounts to € 142,000 approx.

July 2024: The Swiss competition authority announces that it has found evidence that more than 200 companies from various industries had been regularly exchanging detailed information on wages, wage developments, fringe benefits and other working conditions in various industry and cross-industry bodies over the years. Instead of opening a formal investigation, the authority decided to develop and publish best practices in the labour market.

5 December 2022: The Swiss competition authority investigates the labour market in the banking sector as it suspects that several banks in Switzerland are exchanging information on the salaries of different categories of their employees.

3 December 2024: The Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") announces that the Competition Board has adopted Guidelines on Competition Infringements in Labour Markets.

2 August 2024: The TCA imposes (following settlement) fines of a total of approx. €5 million on two pharmaceutical companies on grounds that they had entered into no-poach agreements. In the same investigation earlier in the year the TCA imposed fines (following settlement) of a total of approx. €6.2 million on two additional pharmaceutical companies.

19 October 2023: The TCA initiates an antitrust investigation against ready-mixed concrete producers operating in Ankara for allegedly restricting competition in the labour market.

26 July 2023: The TCA fines 16 undertakings, including Vodafone Turkey, for concluding no-poach agreements. The conduct concerned agreements not to hire each other's employees or to limit the mobility of employees. These agreements were bilateral, and the infringement period varied across companies ranging from less than a year to more than five years. The fines amount to €5 million approx. in total.

1 May 2022: The TCA opens an antitrust investigation into seven software companies for entering into no-poach agreements.

24 February 2022: The TCA fines 16 private health hospitals for wage fixing and no-poaching practices, blocking the transfer of each other's employees. The fines amount to €5.4 million approx.

2 January 2020: The TCA obliges 47 container transportation companies to stop fixing the wages of the truck drivers. No fines imposed.

7 February 2019: The TCA obliges BFIT, active in the gym services market, to stop imposing non-compete and no-poaching obligations in its franchising agreements. No fines imposed.

25 January 2024: The UK competition authority ("CMA") publishes a research report on competition and market power in labour markets. The Report examines employer market power and labour market concentration, the prevalence of restrictive covenants (including non-compete clauses), as well as changes in the labour market, including hybrid and flexible working and the gig economy, which features an increased amount of temporary positions and freelance work. The CMA is planning to use the findings to inform its current increasing scrutiny of potentially anti-competitive conduct in labour markets, as well as broader government and policy thinking.

17 January 2024: It is reported that the CMA has expanded a cartel investigation in the fragrances sector to investigate "reciprocal arrangements relating to the hiring or recruitment of certain staff".

10 May 2023: The UK government announces plans to limit the length of non-compete restrictions to three months. Limiting non-compete clauses will not interfere with the ability of employers to use (paid) notice periods or gardening leave, or to use non-solicitation clauses. These reforms will not cut across arrangements on confidentiality clauses, nor will they affect restrictions on (former) public sector employees under the business appointment rules.

9 February 2023: The CMA publishes new Guidance materials focused on the companies' legal obligations to avoid collusion in terms of employee remuneration, working conditions and recruitment.

12 July 2022: The CMA opens a wage-fixing cartel probe into several broadcasters, for fixing the wages offered to technical staff such as camera operators or sound engineers. On 6 April 2023, the CMA expands the investigation to include additional parties.

December 2016: The CMA fines five model agencies and their trade association for entering into anti-competitive agreements involving the fixing of model fees or wages and agency fees. The fines amount to €1.82 million.