FTC And DOJ Issue Antitrust Guidance For Human Resource Professionals

Last week the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice jointly issued guidance to educate companies, and in particular human resource professionals, on how antitrust laws apply in the employment arena, particularly with respect to hiring and compensation matters. Human resource professionals should familiarize themselves with this guidance, which we summarize below, as the DOJ and FTC made it clear that HR professionals may be held individually responsible for certain employment-based antitrust violations.

The Guidance Takes An Expansive View of Competing Employers

With the release of the Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals, the DOJ and FTC removed any doubt that, at least from the perspective of these two agencies charged with enforcement of the federal antitrust laws, "competing employers" may violate those laws when they "limit or fix the terms of employment for potential hires" where the "agreement constrains individual firm