Today, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) jointly issued antitrust guidelines for business activities affecting workers.  The guidelines explain how both the FTC and DOJ assess whether business practices affecting workers violate the antitrust laws.  These guidelines replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals.  Competition among employers helps workers through better wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions for working people.  Similarly, vibrant, open markets to recruit and retain workers are conducive to new business formation, innovation, and productivity.  As the guidelines state, business practices may violate the antitrust laws when they harm competition among employers, which can lead to worse outcomes for workers and the broader economy.

"The antitrust laws protect all Americans, including workers, from illegal monopolization, collusion, and unfair methods of competition," said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan.  “These antitrust guidelines provide clarity to businesses about the practices that can violate the law—from agreements between firms to fix workers’ wages to coercive noncompetes.”

The guidelines outline specific types of agreements or business practices that may violate the antitrust laws, such as the use of noncompetes or the sharing of information about wages among companies that compete for workers.  The guidelines also outline agreements and other activities that may lead to criminal liability, including agreements to fix wages or agreements not to poach employees.  Additionally, the guidelines explain that false claims about workers’ potential earnings may violate federal law.  The guidelines also provide information about how to report potential antitrust violations to the FTC and DOJ.  The Commission vote approving the joint guidance was 3-2, with Commissioners Andrew N. Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak dissenting.  Commissioner Ferguson issued a dissenting statement joined by Commissioner Holyoak.  The Federal Trade Commission develops policy initiatives on issues that affect competition, consumers, and the U.S. economy.  The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.