Big Fines For Anti-Competitive Practices In Belgium

The Belgian Competition Authority recently rendered a decision imposing significant fines totaling EUR 47 million on competitors guilty of a variety of anti-competitive agreements, including 'no-hire' clauses.

A 'no-hire' agreement (also called a 'non-poaching' agreement) is an agreement that one employer will not recruit or hire another employer's employees. In some limited contexts (primarily in service contracts), these agreements may be enforceable. Significantly, however, the Authority held in its decision that no-hire clauses between competitors are never permitted.

Anti-competitive practices

The Authority's decision concerned mutually-agreed practices between three large competitors that constituted clear violations of antitrust law. These included agreements on minimum prices ('price-fixing') and mutual alignment of intentions on public procurement procedures ('bid rigging').