Papa John’s, Others Give Up Policies Against Employment Poaching

Employment poaching clauses are a widespread problem for employees in the fast food industry.

No-poaching clauses prohibit franchises within the same chain of restaurants to from hiring one another’s employees. This is done to limit competition, meaning that the restaurants don’t have to offer competitive wages and attractive benefits to keep workers around.

However, these agreements hurt employees. Employment poaching agreements decrease the mobility that employees have. These agreements can keep wages down and keep employees from advancing their career or seeking others jobs that work better for them.

In fact, a research paper produced by economists at Princeton University say that anti-poaching agreements may be the reason why “unemployment has reached a 16-year low and job openings are at an all-time high, yet wage growth has remained surprisingly sluggish.”

Recently, the U.S. Justice Department and state attorneys generals have been cracking down on no-poaching agreements In particular, the Justice Department is investigating if no-poaching clauses violate antitrust laws.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson conducted an investigation on anti-poaching agreements in Washington, and has stated that he is committed to cracking on companies that continue to have employment poaching clauses. He says that companies should not hamper their employee’s mobility and career development by using no-poaching clauses, and says that companies should compete for workers “the same way as they compete for customers.”

According to the Seattle Times, 23 fast food chains have gotten rid of their no-poaching clauses as a result of Ferguson’s investigation into employment poaching policies. Most recently, Papa John’s and three other chains have ditched their no-poachingclauses. Still, employees of these chains may already have had their careers stunted due to these no-poaching clauses.

Remarking on the change to the San Francisco Chronicle, Church’s Chicken Executive Vice President Craig Prusher expressed support for removing the no-poaching clauses, and said that “we want all current and prospective employees to know they are free to work where they choose.”

Under agreements with AG Ferguson, companies have said that they will remove employment poaching clauses from their existing contracts within 90 to 120 days, and for their locations in the rest of the country, will simply remove the clauses from contracts that are up for renewal.

The most recent chains to enter into these agreements are following the lead of seven other chains that got rid of their employment poaching clauses in July — those restaurants included Carl’s Jr. and Cinnabon, as well as five others.

These changes are good for workers, but the problem still persists. Anti-poaching clauses are still all too common in the fast food industry, and could be harming workers’ careers. If you work in a fast food restaurant, you may not know that your employer is using an employment poaching clause.

Lawyers are looking for employees at Papa John’s and other restaurants for a possible employment poaching lawsuit investigation. Joining an employment poaching lawsuit could help you gain compensation for injury you suffered due to lost wages and other factors.

Join a Free Fast Food Employee Poaching Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you work for McDonald’s, Jimmy John’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Papa John’s, Domino’s, Burger King or Arby’s and were prevented from moving to a different franchise that is part of the same company, you may have been the victim of a no-poach agreement. If so, you may qualify to participate in this employee poaching class action lawsuit investigation.

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