The Competition Authority's Draft Guidelines On Competition Infringements In Labor Markets Submitted For Public Opinion

On September 16, 2024, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published the Draft Guidelines on Competition Infringements in Labor Markets (“Draft Guidelines”) on its website. The Draft Guidelines aim to inform the public and undertakings on the relationship between the labor market and Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”).

While the Competition Board (“Board”) has addressed the issue in its previous preliminary investigations into the labor market, regulating the area has not been a priority and until the last two years no sanctions had been imposed.

Recent decisions have indisputably demonstrated that wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements can be considered cartels by the Board. The Draft Guidelines confirm this view by stating that that these are cartel agreements and provide further information on the types of infringements that may occur in labor markets.