Enforcement Against "No-Poach" Agreements On The Rise

Federal and state antitrust officials have recently stepped up enforcement against agreements between competitors not to solicit each other's employees. On July 12, 2018, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that seven fast-food chains—Carl's Jr., Buffalo Wild Wings, McDonald's, Jimmy John's, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's and Arby's—had agreed to end so-called "no-poach" clauses in franchise agreements that prevented their employees from moving among franchise locations. The deal will have a nationwide effect, impacting tens of thousands of employees who work at more than 25,000 of the chains' locations. Several days before that announcement, 10 other state attorneys general publicly released a letter they jointly sent to eight large fast-food chains seeking documents and information about no-poach provisions in their franchise agreements.