In our blog here, we noted EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s focus on the evolution of cartels in recent years, with the emergence of purchasing cartels and the focus in the US on ‘no-poach’ agreements, whereby companies agree not to recruit each other’s workers and/or fix wages. This is similar to a purchasing cartel, except … Continue Reading
Of course it could just be coincidence, but scarcely hours after my post last week concerning the dearth of the employment law candidates for the Brexit red-tape bonfire, out pops a Gov.uk policy paper on “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy” containing the first five suggested victims. And what a woeful little bunch they are, … Continue Reading
On 19 October, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Competition of the European Commission, delivered a speech addressing the EU’s current policy when addressing cartels, potential changes to the Commission’s leniency program and recent dawn-raid efforts. Most notably, Vestager spoke about so-called ‘no-poach’ agreements, whereby companies agree not to recruit each other’s workers and/or … Continue Reading
The first Supreme Court judgment on employment competition in a century was handed down recently – and it is good news for employers.… Continue Reading
Restrictive covenants in employment contracts are a bit like lifejackets: it’s nice to have them there and you hope that they will fit you in an emergency but you would really prefer not to have to use them. That said, if the time comes and your employees are approached by a competitor in breach of … Continue Reading
On 16 June, following a Government Call for Evidence, we sent out a survey to over 4,000 of our clients and contacts in HR and Legal teams to ascertain attitudes to the use of restrictive covenants in contracts of employment and their inhibiting impact, if any, on competitiveness in the UK market. Our respondents ranged … Continue Reading
Last month the Government was hard at work, looking at ways to drive forward the UK economy. What was it doing, I hear you ask…was it Brexit? Was it the EU-US Free Trade Agreement? A potential saviour for the Port Talbot steelworks? British Home Stores? In a word, no. Dissatisfied with the UK placing second … Continue Reading
Sometimes it must be tough being a High Court Judge, especially where you have to separate your distaste for a party’s ethics from the actual legal merits of his case. So hats off to Mrs Justice Simler for combining in Croesus Financial Services Limited –v- Bradshaw & Bradshaw last week a fairly gleeful trashing of … Continue Reading
