EU antitrust regulators looking at company no poach deals, EU official says

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Agreements between companies not to hire each other's employees have recently attracted regulatory scrutiny, a senior EU antitrust official said on Friday, amid concerns that such practices may unlawfully restrict workers' job opportunities.

The U.S. Justice Department has in recent years stepped up enforcement over no-poach and non-solicitation agreements, with individuals launching litigation. In Europe, the issue has been less of a priority.

That could soon change, said Olivier Guersent, director general at the European Commission's antitrust unit.

"And of course we're also looking at some practices that used to be less on our radar, like non-poach agreements," he told a conference in New York, without providing any details.

Antitrust lawyers say no-poach deals can be seen as agreements to restrict competition in labour markets.

They say competition watchdogs in Portugal, France, Spain, Croatia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania and Germany have examined or acted against such deals.

The EU executive, which acts as the competition enforcer for the 27-country European Union, can fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover for antitrust violations and order them to halt anti-competitive practices.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Bill Berkrot)