> Wage Fixing/No-Poach Guidelines | CANADIAN COMPETITION LAW

Categories

Archives


January 31, 2023

Practical Law Canada Competition, of which I am Lawyer Editor, has published a new Legal Update that discusses new proposed Competition Bureau guidelines on wage fixing and no-poaching agreements under section 45 of the Canadian Competition Act.

Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update.

**********

This Legal Update discusses new proposed Competition Bureau (Bureau) guidance on wage fixing and no-poaching agreements under section 45(1.1) of the Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34, which will come into force on June 23, 2023. The Update also discusses the background for the new upstream (that is, buy-side) employment-related criminal conspiracy offences and implications for employers.

On January 18, 2023, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it was seeking feedback on new proposed guidance on wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements (see Competition Bureau seeks feedback on new guidance related to wage fixing and no-poaching agreements, Competition Bureau, January 18, 2023).

In announcing its new draft Enforcement guidance on wage-fixing and no poaching agreements(Guidelines), the Bureau said:

“Like agreements between competitors related to price-fixing, market allocation and output restrictions, wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements undermine competition and the efficient allocation of resources. Maintaining and encouraging competition among employers results in higher wages and salaries, as well as better benefits and employment opportunities for workers.”

The Bureau’s announcement follows recent significant amendments to the Competition Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34, which included the introduction of new criminal offences for wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements between unaffiliated employers.

The Bureau’s consultation is open until March 3, 2023, and interested parties can file submissions on the Guidelines using the Feedback Form — Enforcement guidance on wage-fixing and no poaching agreements.

(…)

For the full Legal Update, see: here.

********************

SERVICES AND CONTACT

We are a Toronto based competition and advertising law firm offering business and individual clients efficient and strategic advice in relation to competition/antitrust, advertising, Internet and new media law and contest law. We also offer competition and regulatory law compliance, education and policy services to companies, trade and professional associations and government agencies.

Our experience includes advising clients in Toronto, Canada and the United States on the application of Canadian competition and regulatory laws and we have worked on hundreds of domestic and cross-border competition, advertising and marketing, promotional contest (sweepstakes), conspiracy (cartel), abuse of dominance, compliance, refusal to deal and pricing and distribution matters. For more information about our competition and advertising law services see: competition law services.

To contact us about a potential legal matter, see: contact

For more information about our firm, visit our website: Competitionlawyer.ca

Comments are closed.

    buy-contest-form Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada

    buy-contest-form Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)

    WELCOME TO CANADIAN COMPETITION LAW! - OUR COMPETITION BLOG

    We are a Toronto based competition, advertising and regulatory law firm.

    We offer business, association, government and other clients in Toronto, Canada and internationally efficient and strategic advice in relation to Canadian competition, advertising, regulatory and new media laws. We also offer compliance, education and policy services.

    Our experience includes more than 20 years advising companies, trade and professional associations, governments and other clients in relation to competition, advertising and marketing, promotional contest, cartel, abuse of dominance, competition compliance, refusal to deal and pricing and distribution law matters.

    Our representative work includes filing and defending against Competition Bureau complaints, legal opinions and advice, competition, CASL and advertising compliance programs and strategy in competition and regulatory law matters.

    We have also written and helped develop many competition and advertising law related industry resources including compliance programs, acting as subject matter experts for online and in-person industry compliance courses and Steve Szentesi as Lawyer Editor for Practical Law Canada Competition.

    For more about us, visit our website: here.