Increasingly competition law regulators are focussing on employment practices that can have significant anti-competitive impact in various industries, whether these are wage fixing agreements, non-competes or non-poaching agreements, with equally a recognition for the need to allow for legitimate collective bargaining agreements, in certain circumstances.
In order to better understand the potential impact that employment practices can have on competitive dynamics in different industries the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its first major research report by its new Microeconomics Unit: Competition and market power in UK labour markets (the Report) on 25 January 2024. The Report follows a year in which the CMA demonstrated that competition in labour markets is now an enforcement priority in the UK. Historically competition authorities have focused on product markets, but we have seen competition authorities globally start to focus on other aspects of competition including labour market practices. The CMA’s Report serves as another reminder for businesses to bear in mind competition risks in relation to their activities in labour markets.
The CMA’s Report is intended to be used as evidence to support policymaking and further research into competition and labour markets. The Report found that labour markets are more concentrated outside of London and the Southeast and where markets are more concentrated there is a real cost for workers. For example,…
