# Antipoaching

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Anti-competitive employment practice

Not to be confused with [Anti-poaching](/source/Anti-poaching).

**Antipoaching** (or **no-poach agreement**) is an [anti-competitive conduct](/source/Anti-competitive_practices) where companies conspire not to hire each other's [employees](/source/Employee).[1]

Antipoaching agreements, or no-poach agreements, are related to [non-compete clauses](/source/Non-compete_clause), but distinct—no-poach agreements are among employers, non-compete clauses are between employer and company. In the United States, antipoaching agreements have been widespread among franchise businesses: Research has found that 58 percent of major franchisors' contracts in 2016, including those of McDonald's, Burger King, Jiffy Lube, and H&R Block, contained agreements not to hire the workers of other franchisees.[2] Some franchisors have since stated that they would drop those agreements.[3]

Antipoaching agreements may be illegal under U.S. antitrust law in some circumstances.[4] Major high-tech companies in the United States, such as Adobe, Apple, Intuit, Intel, eBay, Google, LucasFilm and Pixel, entered into at least one no-poach agreement. These firms reportedly engaged in the following behaviors: "Managers informed recruiters which potential hires were off-limits and some human resources departments maintained written lists. Some agreements included additional anticompetitive restraints, such as prohibition of bidding wars. Enforcement was straightforward. In cases where a firm violated an agreement, its counterparty often contacted a senior manager at the violating firm, who would then put a stop to the violation." These tech firms were the basis of the [High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation](/source/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation). A 2025 study found that this collusion reduced wages at the colluding firms by 5.6%, reduced stock bonuses for employees, and led to worse job satisfaction.[5]

## See also

- [Employee poaching](/source/Employee_poaching)

- [High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation](/source/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation)

- [Non-compete clause](/source/Non-compete_clause)

- [Market power](/source/Market_power)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Apple, Google, others settle antipoaching lawsuit for $415 million - CNET](https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-others-settle-anti-poaching-lawsuit-for-415-million/), September 3, 2015, Lance Whitney, *cNet.com*, retrieved at 2 March 2017

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Alan B. Krueger and Orley Ashenfelter, ["Theory and Evidence on Employer Collusion in the Franchise Sector"](https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/11672/theory-and-evidence-on-employer-collusion-in-the-franchise-sector) (2018).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Jeff Stein, "7 fast food chains agree to drop ‘no-poaching’ clauses,"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/07/12/fast-food-chains-agree-drop-no-poaching-clauses/) *The Washington Post,* July 12, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Antitrust Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice, ["No-poach approach,"](https://www.justice.gov/atr/division-operations/division-update-spring-2019/no-poach-approach) Spring 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Gibson, Matthew (2025). ["Employer market power in Silicon Valley"](https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1417&context=up_workingpapers). *The Economic Journal* ueaf109. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ej/ueaf109](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fej%2Fueaf109).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Antipoaching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipoaching) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipoaching?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.