Adapting Human Resources Practices To The TCA's New Competition Guidelines On Labour Markets

1. Introduction

Labour markets are dynamic markets where wages and other working conditions are determined based on market equilibrium, i.e. the balance between supply and demand. While competition law has traditionally focused on goods and services markets, there have been an increasing number of interventions in labour markets from a competition law perspective in recent years. In this context, competition authorities have started focusing on practices that restrict employee mobility and agreements that limit competition among employers.

The Turkish Competition Authority (the "TCA") has also begun closely examining such practices and issued significant decisions in this area. In line with the global developments¹, in 2021, the TCA published an announcement² related to the undertakings operating in the labour market were assessed by the Turkish Competition Board (the TCA's decisive body, the "TCB") for engaging in gentlemen's agreements that restricted labour