Search results for: no poach

On October 27, 2022, VDA OC, LLC, (VDA) a Nevada health care staffing company, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition for the services of school nurses.  According to the plea, VDA and an unnamed competitor agreed not to recruit or hire each other’s nurses and to refrain from raising wages of the nurses.… Continue Reading

The United States indicted DaVita, Inc., and Kent Thiry, DaVita’s former Chief Executive Officer, last year alleging that they had violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by engaging in “Conspiracy in Restraint of Trade to Allocate Employees.” The essential elements of the criminal charges were alleged agreements with competitors not to poach each other’s employees.… Continue Reading

The latest episode of Business Better is a discussion of “no-poach” agreements – agreements between competitors that neither will hire the other’s employees. We’ll discuss the different types of such agreements, their enforceability under antitrust and other laws and the possibility of criminal prosecution arising from their use, and how to protect a business from poaching without running afoul of the law.… Continue Reading

Whether employee no-poach agreements are illegal per se is being tested in a criminal case, U.S. v. Surgical Care Affiliates LLC et al., drawing the attention of many interested parties, including the United States Chamber of Commerce (Chamber).

In 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ or the Division) released joint guidance signaling that agreements between competing employers that “limit or fix the terms of employment” for prospective employees may violate antitrust laws. … Continue Reading

In May 2022, Colorado legislators passed a law that bans employee non-compete clauses for workers making less than six figures annually.  Governor Jared Polis (D) signed the bill into law on June 8, 2022, giving it an effective date of August 10, 2022.

In short, HB 22-1317, imposes an income-based minimum on enforceable non-compete agreements between employers and employees. … Continue Reading

Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when the employer offers employee severance agreements with provisions restricting employees’ Section 7 rights under the Act, such as with overly broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions.  McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No.… Continue Reading

Two labor organizations, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania (SEIU) and the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), have lodged a public complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has wrongfully exercised its power as the largest private sector employer in Pennsylvania to “suppress workers’ wages and benefits, drastically increase their workloads, and prevent workers from exiting or improving these working conditions through a draconian system of mobility restrictions and widespread labor law violations that lock in sub-competitive pay and working conditions.”  … Continue Reading