Antitrust Concerns in No-Poaching, Wage-Fixing, and Non-compete Agreements

Summary

This practice note addresses antitrust risks involved in non-compete agreements and certain agreements between employers. In recent years, several relatively commonplace employment practices—including no-poaching agreements, wage-fixing or benefit-fixing agreements, and non-compete clauses—have attracted increasing antitrust scrutiny. In particular, critics have focused on the potential for such agreements to harm employees, consumers, and the economy by decreasing labor competition, depressing wages or benefits, suppressing employee mobility, and reducing innovation.