No-Poach and Wage-Fixing Agreements Under Turkish Competition Law

Foreign companies operating in Turkey tend to focus their compliance work on employment contracts, work permit rules, and tax filings. Far fewer think about what happens when an HR director quietly agrees with a counterpart at a rival firm that neither side will recruit the other's staff. Under Turkish competition law, that informal understanding is a cartel — and so is any coordination between competing employers on salary levels. The Turkish Competition Board (Rekabet Kurulu) has made clear it will pursue these arrangements just as aggressively as product market price-fixing. If your business has operations in Antalya or anywhere in Turkey, this is a compliance risk you need to understand.

What Are No-Poach and Wage-Fixing Agreements?

A no-poach agreement is an arrangement between two or more employers not to hire or actively recruit each other's employees. A wage-fixing agreement is any coordination between competing employers on pay levels, salary bands, or other compensation terms. Both types suppress labour market competition: instead of bidding against each other for talent with better wages and conditions, the employers involved remove that contest from the equation.

These arrangements often arise informally — a side conversation at a trade association event, a verbal understanding between senior HR managers, or a clause slipped into a supplier contract. Their informal character offers no protection. Turkish competition law expressly covers concerted practices, meaning coordinated conduct that substitutes for a written agreement counts just as much as a signed document.

The Legal Framework: Article 4 of Law 4054

The central prohibition is Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (4054 sayılı Rekabetin Korunması Hakkında Kanun). It prohibits agreements, concerted practices, and decisions by associations of undertakings that have the object or effect of preventing, restricting, or distorting competition within Turkey.

The Competition Board applies this article to labour market coordination as a form of horizontal cartel conduct. Wage-fixing and no-poach arrangements are treated with the same seriousness as price-fixing in product markets, because they restrict competition for the same fundamental reason: they remove the normal market pressure that drives better outcomes — for workers, in this case.

Enforcement: What the Competition Board Has Done

The Competition Board's record shows this is not a theoretical concern. Several sectors have faced formal investigations and penalties in recent years:

• Pharmaceutical industry (2025): Multiple pharma companies were found to have joined no-poach agreements ("çalışan ayartmama anlaşması") under which competing firms agreed not to recruit each other's employees. One company also faced an additional finding under Article 6 for abuse of dominant position. The Board resolved the cases through settlement proceedings.
• Private schools (2024): School operators in the Kocaeli region were investigated for coordinating both tuition fees and labour market practices — a dual cartel finding covering both the service market and the employer side of the workforce market.
• Cement and construction sector (2025): Companies in the Malatya region were found to have simultaneously engaged in price-fixing, market allocation, and labour market competition restrictions. The Board treated the labour dimension as an integral part of the cartel, not a secondary matter.

Across these cases, the Board used what it calls "centilmenlik anlaşmaları" (gentlemen's agreements) as the conceptual framing for informal, often unwritten labour market coordination. The term underscores that polite-sounding arrangements can still be illegal cartels.

Practical Risks for Employers

For foreign-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, and representative offices in Turkey, the risks arise in several familiar situations:

Trade association salary discussions: Benchmarking compensation data within an industry body is legitimate when handled correctly. But if those discussions cross into agreeing on pay bands, sharing real-time salary data in a way that enables coordination, or reaching any understanding on what to offer new hires, the activity can become evidence of wage-fixing.

Informal HR networks: A verbal understanding between two HR directors — "we won't go after your staff, you don't come after ours" — can constitute a no-poach agreement. Effect on competition is what matters, not the form the arrangement takes.

No-poach clauses in commercial contracts: A provision in a supply or partnership agreement prohibiting the other party from recruiting your employees may be lawful if it is strictly ancillary to the underlying deal and limited in time and scope. A broad, open-ended restriction between companies that compete in the same labour market is a much higher risk and should be reviewed by a competition lawyer before being signed.

Employers in Antalya's hospitality, construction, and professional services sectors — where competition for skilled workers is intense — face the greatest practical exposure. But the Board's recent decisions show it investigates across all sectors.

What Employees Can Do

If you work in Turkey and believe your career mobility has been artificially restricted because your employer has an informal understanding with a competitor, you can file a complaint with the Competition Board. Employees are not required to be legal entities to bring a concern: individuals can alert the Board to suspected arrangements. The Board has the authority to investigate, impose penalties, and order changes to conduct.

Foreign employees should be aware that Turkish labour law protections on termination and severance and notice pay rules are separate from competition law — an employer may comply with its employment obligations while still engaging in competition law violations on the hiring side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does Turkish competition law apply to foreign companies with subsidiaries in Turkey?

Yes. Law 4054 applies to all undertakings operating in Turkey, regardless of their country of incorporation. A foreign company's Turkish subsidiary is fully subject to Article 4 and all other competition rules.

Q: Can a company escape liability by showing the agreement was verbal or informal?

No. Turkish competition law covers concerted practices. Parallel conduct combined with evidence of communication between competing employers can establish a violation even without a signed document.

Q: What is the leniency mechanism?

Turkish competition law provides a leniency programme under which a company that is the first to report a cartel arrangement to the Competition Board and cooperates fully with the investigation may receive a significant reduction in any fine that would otherwise apply. Speed matters — the discount available to the first applicant is substantially larger than for later ones.

Q: Is a non-solicitation clause in an individual employment contract the same as a no-poach agreement?

No. A non-solicitation clause in an individual employment contract binds the employee and raises questions under Labour Law. The competition law risk arises when two or more employers coordinate with each other on hiring decisions — that is a fundamentally different situation.

Q: Where can employers find guidance on compliant salary benchmarking?

The Competition Board has published sector-specific guidance on information exchange between competitors. Legal advice is strongly recommended before your company participates in any salary survey or data-sharing programme involving companies that compete for the same workforce.

How Mona Hukuk Can Help

Mona Hukuk advises foreign companies and individuals in Antalya on competition law compliance, including reviews of HR practices, trade association participation, and commercial contract terms. Whether you want to assess your company's exposure before a problem arises, or you are already facing a Competition Board investigation, our lawyers can provide practical, confidential guidance tailored to your sector and circumstances.

Contact us at info@monahukuk.com or call +90 (242) 606 14 32 to schedule a consultation in Antalya.