The Competition Council has fined eight companies a total of 163.71 million lei (approximately 32.15 million euros) for participating in an anti-competitive agreement involving the division of the labor market to limit employee mobility and keep human resources costs low.
Following an investigation, the competition authority found that Alten Si-Techno Romania SRL, Akkodis Romania SRL, Automobile-Dacia SA, Bertrandt Engineering Technologies Romania SRL, Expleo Romania SRL, FEV ECE Automotive SRL, Renault Technologie Roumanie SRL, and Segula Technologies Romania SRL agreed not to compete with one another for the recruitment and hiring of qualified/specialized personnel associated with vehicle manufacturing activities and/or related activities, including engineering services and technical consulting in Romania. The companies also agreed not to recruit human resources from one another without the prior consent of the respective company.
The fines were imposed as follows:
- Akkodis Romania SRL: 5,539,871.75 lei
- Alten Si-Techno Romania SRL: 10,651,566.50 lei
- Automobile-Dacia SA: 81,530,497.62 lei
- Bertrandt Engineering Technologies Romania SRL: 7,710,801.66 lei
- Expleo Romania SRL: 7,428,131.86 lei
- FEV ECE Automotive SRL: 1,398,870.03 lei
- Renault Technologie Roumanie SRL: 46,294,136.03 lei
- Segula Technologies Romania SRL: 3,158,982.76 lei
Such behavior, known as “no-poaching” agreements, involves companies agreeing not to hire or make unsolicited offers to employees of competing firms, thereby giving up competition for attracting and retaining workforce.
“This is the first case in which we have sanctioned such anti-competitive practices, where companies do not compete for attracting specialized labor. Human resources represent an essential parameter of competition between companies, given the share of personnel costs in total expenses, the labor shortage, or employee/workforce mobility. This type of ‘no-poaching’ behavior is particularly harmful both to competition, by creating artificial barriers in the market, and to employees, whose mobility opportunities are affected,” said Bogdan Chirițoiu, President of the Competition Council.
During the investigation, one of the companies applied for the leniency program, providing documents and information that made a significant contribution to proving the anti-competitive practice and received a substantial reduction in its fine. Five other companies admitted the infringement and, as a result, benefited from reduced penalties. The investigation was launched following a complaint received through the Competition Whistleblowers Platform.