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ARTICLE · 24 JANUARY 2025

FTC And DOJ New Worker Guidelines Summarize Outgoing Administration's Aggressive Enforcement

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On January 16, the FTC and DOJ (the "Agencies") jointly published Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (the "Worker Guidelines"). In issuing the Worker Guidelines, the Agencies purport to replace the Agencies' 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals (the "HR Guidance").

United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
Lindsey Bohl
Lindsey Bohl
Abram Ellis
Abram Ellis
Peter Guryan
Peter Guryan
Karen Kazmerzak
Karen Kazmerzak
Preston Miller
Preston Miller
Sara Razi
Sara Razi
John Terzaken
John Terzaken

On January 16, the FTC and DOJ (the "Agencies") jointly published Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (the "Worker Guidelines"). In issuing the Worker Guidelines, the Agencies purport to replace the Agencies' 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals (the "HR Guidance").

The Worker Guidelines cap a flurry of activity by the outgoing Biden administration to revise the Agencies' antitrust guidance for businesses, including the DOJ's withdrawal of three decades-old health care policy statements in February 2023, the Agencies' issuance of new Merger Guidelines in December 2023, the DOJ's issuance of a new Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations policy in November 2024, and the Agencies' withdrawal of the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors in December 2024.

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