The DOJ will now treat wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements
criminally.
On October 20, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) issued guidance (the Guidance) signaling
that they will bring enforcement actions for wage-fixing and
no-poaching agreements under federal antitrust law.1
Significantly, this is the first time that the DOJ indicated that
it would consider a "criminal prosecution against individuals,
the company, or both" for wage-fixing and no-poaching
agreements. The DOJ has authority to enforce criminal and civil
violations of antitrust laws. The FTC enforces civil, not criminal,
laws. The agencies provided the "alert" for human
resources (HR) professionals concerning "potential violations
of the antitrust laws" based on hiring and compensation
decisions.
