#WorkforceWednesday: ACA Preventive Coverage Mandate Blocked, Another No-Poach Loss for DOJ, and Employers Prepare for the End of the COVID-19 Emergencies - Employment Law This Week®
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Podcast | Episode 100: Marguerite Willis, Nexsen Pruet Attorney
It’s been two years since the Antitrust Division brought its most recent — and only pending — criminal case involving labor markets. The two-year pause may be telling. It could indicate that prosecutors are picking and...more
On January 16, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued “Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers” (2025 Guidelines). The 2025 Guidelines aim to “promote clarity and...more
The European Commission (EC) has recently conducted unannounced antitrust inspections in the data centre construction sector, following concerns about potential collusion in the form of no-poach agreements. This investigation...more
Whilst not traditionally a focus of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the UK’s labour markets now form one of the CMA’s strategic priorities, as outlined in its 2023 to 2024 Annual Plan....more
The year 2023 will be remembered as a milestone for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC, and, together with the DOJ, the “Agencies”) in their efforts to expand antitrust enforcement to labor...more
In another blow to the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) efforts to criminalize “no-poach” and “wage-fixing” agreements, a federal judge terminated the DOJ’s latest “no-poach” case mid-trial before jury deliberations....more
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has signalled its interest in bringing enforcement actions in the labour market by issuing guidance to employers on competition law compliance. The guidance warns employers that...more
We are pleased to announce that Husch Blackwell has published its inaugural “Legal Insights for Manufacturing” report, which provides a look ahead to 2023 and explores the key trends and issues that will shape the coming year...more
At the end of last year, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) secured a guilty plea for wage fixing, resulting in its first criminal conviction with Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter saying: “[t]oday’s guilty plea...more
When Bill C-19, Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 received Royal Assent in June 2022, it amended Canada’s Competition Act (Act) by including a new provision, s. 45(1.1), which comes into force on June 23, 2023. Section...more
On January 18, 2023, the Competition Bureau published draft enforcement guidelines on wage-fixing and no poaching agreements, inviting interested parties to provide their comments no later than March 3, 2023. The draft...more
Each week, FP Weekly members receive a practical and cutting-edge checklist of issues to consider, action steps to take, and goals to accomplish to ensure you remain on the top of your game when it comes to workplace...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
A healthcare staffing firm in Nevada just pled guilty to conspiring with a competitor to fix wages for school nurses and agreeing not to solicit each other’s workers – the nation’s first-ever successful criminal prosecution...more
On June 23, 2022, Canada’s Bill C-19, Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 received Royal Assent and amended Canada’s Competition Act. The Competition Act applies to all businesses operating in Canada, whether they are...more
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,...more
Key Points - As part of the antitrust agencies’ public commitment to investigate and prosecute competitive harm in labor markets, the DOJ Antitrust Division fined three major U.S. poultry processors and a data consulting...more
On April 14, 2022, a Texas jury returned five not-guilty verdicts on six charges considered in the first federal criminal wage-fixing prosecution. A day later, on April 15, 2022, a Colorado federal jury entirely acquitted...more
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) announced that it would criminally prosecute no-poach and wage-fixing agreements for the first time. Indeed, the DOJ has backed this up by bringing a number of...more
On January 28, 2022, a federal grand jury in Maine returned an indictment charging four managers of home health care agencies with participating in a conspiracy to suppress the wages and restrict the job mobility of Personal...more
Criminal antitrust is burning a path in prosecuting illegal wage-fixing agreements in labor markets. The Justice Department warned companies over five years ago and now DOJ is executing on its warning. Over the last two...more
It has been nearly a year since the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (DOJ) made good on its promise to criminally charge companies that agree not to solicit each other's employees in so-called "no-poach"...more
Absprachen im Personalbereich rücken zunehmend in den Fokus der Kartellbehörden. EU Wettbewerbskommissarin Margrethe Vestager hat jüngst am 22. Oktober 2021 in einer Rede in Rom ("A New Era of Cartel Enforcement")...more
Federal regulators are taking an increasingly hard line on what are normally ordinary business operations that regulators view as suppressing wages and competition. Antitrust issues can arise in every aspect of your...more
Employers who have entered into “no-poaching” agreements may find themselves criminally indicted for violating U.S. antitrust laws. Following up on previously issued guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and...more