No-Poachers Find Themselves in Hot Water

“Don’t come after my employees, and I won’t come after yours.” Perhaps this arrangement seems fair to the untrained antitrust eye. Businesses might in fact justify such an agreement as necessary to maintain a sense of staff stability and firm culture. Make no mistake, however, a “no-poach” agreement, as these arrangements are now called, unlawfully harms employees, labor markets, and ultimately even consumers. Employers who enter into them could also find themselves facing a government investigation criminal prosecution (read: fine + jail time), and private civil litigation.

Bloomberg Law