Competition Watchdog Issues Recruitment Cartel Reminder

THE CMA HAS ISSUED a recruitment cartel reminder, advising employers to avoid colluding on employee pay, working conditions and the hiring of staff.

UK employers have to comply with competition law when setting wages and working conditions for employees, staff recruitment and retention policies. It helps to ensure staff are paid fairly and can move to another employer with different pay and conditions.

Recruitment Cartel Reminder

The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) new materials cover no-poaching agreements, where businesses agree not to hire each other’s employees; wage-fixing agreements, where businesses who compete for the same types of employees fix salaries; and information sharing about the terms and conditions of employees’ contracts – all forms of cartels

It includes practical pointers for businesses to comply with the law, such as:

• understanding how competition law applies to no-poaching and wage-fixing agreements
• training HR staff on competition law and how it applies to agreements within recruitment
• ensuring internal reporting processes are in place so staff can report no-poaching agreements or wage-fixing

Juliette Enser, CMA Senior Director of Cartels, said: “Businesses have no excuse for not following the law and ignorance is no defence when it comes to colluding with competitors to rig the labour market in their favour.

“The materials we published today will help ensure all employers understand their responsibilities under competition law and sets out how the CMA will take action against those who engage in anti-competitive behaviours.”

The new guide for employers on how to avoid breaking competition law was published by the CMA today.

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