Mr. Paul R. Hitchcock is Senior Policy Advisor in
Holland & Knight's
Jacksonville office
With the Justice Department now publicly cracking down on
arrangements between employers such as so-called "
no-poaching" agreements, what's an employer to do to
make sure its compensation for employees with highly portable
skills stays competitive? Figuring out "what's
market" is a crucial aspect of retaining talent, but the
information is difficult to get. Discussions with other employers
who compete for talented people run the risk of claims of
"wage fixing" – a form of buyer price fixing.
Fortunately, there is a pretty reliable safe harbor available to
employers who are willing to go to the effort to follow Justice
Department guidelines. In late 2016, the DOJ shook up
corporate Human Resources departments by announcing that it would
consider criminal prosecution of employers that enter agreements
not to recruit each other's employees, or not to compete on
terms of
