• FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

DOJ guidance clarifies antitrust issues concerning employees

Tim Gould
by Tim Gould
January 12, 2017
  • Payroll
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

It’s written for the HR crowd, but Finance people would do well to take a look at the new guidance the Department of Justice (DOJ) just released concerning antitrust issues. 

The 11-page document, called “Antitrust Guidance For Human Resource Professionals,” was released by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

While the guidance doesn’t break any new legal ground, it outlines how agreements with competing employers regarding things like worker pay and benefits can result in antitrust violations.

In addition, the guidance says that agencies may start to press criminal charges against individuals and companies found to have violated antitrust laws.

Example: The DOJ says it intends to proceed criminally against “naked wage-fixing or no-poaching agreements.” It also says it’ll criminally investigate allegations that employers have formed an agreement among themselves on employee compensation or to not solicit or hire each other’s employees.

Traditionally, the DOJ has brought civil charges against companies committing these types of antitrust activities.

The guidance also makes it clear that the federal agencies’ definition of “competitor” in the context of antitrust law is very broad. The guidance says:

From an antitrust perspective, firms that compete to hire or retain employees are competitors in the employment marketplace, regardless of whether the firms make the same products or compete to provide the same services.

Red flags

In addition to the guidance, the FTC has provided a quick-hitting guide to the red flags federal agencies look for when seeking antitrust violations.

The FTC says antitrust concerns arise of an individual or the person’s colleagues:

  • “Agree with another company about employee salary or other terms of compensation, either at a specific level or within a range.”
  • “Agree with another company to refuse to solicit or hire that other company’s employees.”
  • “Agree with another company about employee benefits.”
  • “Agree with another company on other terms of employment.”
  • “Express to competitors that you should not compete too aggressively for employees.”
  • “Exchange company-specific information about employee compensation or terms of employment with another company.”
  • “Participate in a meeting, such as a trade association meeting, where the above topics are discussed.”
  • “Discuss the above topics with colleagues at other companies, including during social events or in other non-professional settings.”
  • “Receive documents that contain another company’s internal data about employee compensation.”

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader