First EU and UK fines for labour markets antitrust infringements

In recent years, competition authorities have shown an increasing interest in potential competition issues in labour markets. This is now producing results, with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and European Commission having both issued their first-ever fines in labour markets cases in March and June 2025 respectively.

What you need to know

• The European Commission and CMA have imposed fines relating to a "no-poach" agreement, and the exchange of competitively sensitive information relating to wages, respectively.
• These cases confirm that wage fixing and no-poach agreements are likely to be "by object" infringements, meaning the regulator does not have to prove that the agreement actually had an anticompetitive effect.
• Companies should consider whether they have appropriate guidance in place for their Recruitment and HR teams, teams responsible for negotiating documents which may contain no-poach provisions such as joint venture and cooperation agreements, and teams procuring freelance labour.

European Commission: Delivery Hero / Glovo

On 2 June 2025, the European Commission fined Delivery Hero and Glovo a total of EUR 329 million for their involvement in a cartel in the online food delivery sector. This is the European Commission's first infringement decision concerning a no-poach agreement.

In July 2018, Delivery Hero acquired a minority, non-controlling stake in Glovo, gradually increasing its stake until it obtained sole control in July 2022. The European Commission found that the shareholders' agreement signed at the time of the 2018 deal included a "limited reciprocal agreement" under which the companies agreed not to hire certain employees from each other. During the period of Delivery Hero's minority interest, the scope of the agreement was expanded to a general agreement not to actively approach each other's employees.

According to the European Commission, this no-poach agreement prevented the companies from competing for the best talent and resulted in fewer job opportunities for workers. The infringement, which was found to be single and continuous and "by object", involved the exchange of commercially sensitive information and the allocation of geographic markets, amounting to an EEA-wide cartel.

UK CMA: Freelance broadcasting workers

On 21 March 2025, the CMA issued its first-ever decision in a labour market case, imposing fines of over GBP 4.2 million in relation to the exchange, disclosure and receipt of competitively sensitive information between five large sports broadcast and production companies (Sky, BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC). The 15 separate infringements related to the procurement of freelance labour for sports broadcasting, including roles such as camera operators, runners, sound technicians and makeup artists.

The CMA's investigation found that senior employees at the broadcasters had made informal contact with one another to check and confirm that the rates offered to freelance staff broadly aligned with those offered by competitors. In many instances, the broadcasters' intentions appeared to be to ensure that their rates of pay kept pace with increases in the rates paid by others, so that freelance staff were not underpaid relative to their peers.

The CMA concluded that exchanging this information was capable of removing, or at least reducing, strategic uncertainty between them regarding pay, an important parameter of competition in the market for the purchase of the relevant freelance services. Importantly, the CMA found that each instance of information exchange had the object of restricting competition, so that it was not necessary to demonstrate any anti-competitive effects.

The total fines of GBP 4.2 million could have been significantly higher, but were reduced to reflect:

• full immunity from fines for Sky, which alerted the CMA to the conduct;
• significant discounts for BT (15%), IMG (40%) and ITV (42.5%) under the CMA's leniency programme;
• a 20% settlement discount for all parties; and
• additional discounts for the BBC, reflecting cooperation and proportionality.

The CMA has also closed on administrative priority grounds a second investigation into suspected competition law breaches relating to the purchase of freelance services and the employment of staff in connection with non-sports broadcasting.

Ongoing investigations

Labour markets issues are also under scrutiny in at least two other ongoing UK and EU investigations:

• In January 2024, the CMA extended its investigation into anti-competitive conduct in the supply of fragrances and fragrance ingredients (launched in March 2023) to include suspected unlawful coordination involving reciprocal arrangements relating to the hiring or recruitment of staff.
• In November 2024, the European Commission dawn-raided the premises of companies active in the data centre construction sector on suspicion of possible collusion in the form of no-poach agreements.

In addition, the European Court of Justice has been asked for a preliminary ruling in relation to a no-poach agreement between Portuguese football clubs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 15 May 2025, Advocate General Emiliou concluded that, in the specific circumstances, such an agreement is not restrictive by object if its genuine rationale was to preserve the fairness and integrity of the sports competition affected by the pandemic. The Court's ruling is awaited.

Want to know more

Our previous articles set out areas of risk and sources of guidance for companies in relation to competition law and labour markets:

• CMA's growing interest in labour markets, 12 March 2024: an overview of the areas of risk identified by the CMA in relation to labour markets, including the January 2024 research report by the CMA's Microeconomics Unit on "Competition and market power in UK labour markets", and the CMA's February 2023 high level guidance for employers on how to avoid engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.
• Wage fixing and no-poach agreements: restrictions by object? 23 May 2024: an overview of the European Commission's May 2024 policy brief setting out how it, and other national European competition authorities, are likely to view wage fixing and no-poach agreements.