The Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday jointly issued guidance to human resource professionals and others involved in hiring and compensation decisions. This guidance is the first to address the legality of exchanges of salary and compensation information under the antitrust laws since the agencies jointly issued Statements of Antitrust Enforcement in Healthcare more than 20 years ago. This guidance comes in the wake of highly publicized antitrust enforcement actions in this area, including the DOJ's civil enforcement actions against high-tech companies that the Department alleged had entered into agreements with competitors not to poach each other's employees.

The agencies' guidance comes with a warning. Going forward, the DOJ has announced that it will criminally investigate no-poaching or wage-fixing agreements that are unrelated or unnecessary to a larger, legitimate collaboration between the employers. The newly issued guidance has a Q&A with scenarios that HR professionals may encounter from day to day, and the agencies also have issued a quick reference card.