The October 20, 2016, joint DOJ/FTC release, “Antitrust Guidance
for Human Resources Professionals,” underscores
the need for broad-based compliance programs that address all of
the health system’s material regulatory challenges, not just
those related to Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, and fraud and
abuse.
The agencies issued the Guidance to educate HR professionals
about how the antitrust laws apply in the employment context. Their
policy concern is the risk for harm to workers if companies that
would ordinarily compete against each other to recruit and retain
employees instead agree to fix wages or other terms of employment,
or enter into so-called “no-poaching” agreements by
agreeing not to recruit each other’s employees. The Guidance
comes in the wake of several wage-fixing and no-poaching
investigations and lawsuits in a variety of industries, including
health care, by both the government and private plaintiffs.. It
makes clear DOJ's intention to criminally
in
