Employee poaching is an informal term for the practice of offering employment to a worker who is currently employed under another employer in a similar field.
The practice of hiring an employee in this way is a protected legal right in the United States, but can prompt accusations from the original employer for unrelated breaches of trust, such as violating non-compete agreements, or stealing trade secrets. Employee poaching for the purposes of stealing trade secrets is illegal.
Ethical and legal dilemmas over employee poaching arise from the conflict of interests between an employee's right to free access to the labour market, and an employer's right to protect knowledge and skills which it regards as company property.
Employers may attempt to prevent "employee poaching" by inserting
non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...
s into employment contracts.
However, beginning in 2024 within the United States, the
FTC has enacted a broad federal ban on non-compete clauses, rendering them unenforceable outside of narrow circumstances.
See also
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Antipoaching
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Trade secrets
A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...
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Unfair competition
Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market. Antitrust laws ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, usually smaller, businesses or consumers. ...
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Union raid
References
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Ethically disputed working conditions
Recruitment