Staffing Agency Collusion Covered by Illinois Antitrust Act

The Illinois Supreme Court struck down an overly broad interpretation of state antitrust law that could have allowed employers to collude with each other to set worker wages.

An exemption to the Illinois Antitrust Act only covers legitimate labor union activity, so temporary staffing agencies allegedly using it to curb competition for employees could be violating the law, the court said Friday.

“Multiemployer agreements concerning wages they will pay their employees and whether they will hire each other’s employees may violate the Illinois Antitrust Act unless the agreement arises as part of the bargaining process and ‘the affected employees, through their collective bargaining representatives, have sought to bargain with the multiemployer unit,’” the opinion said.

The state took staffing agency competitors Elite Staffing Inc., Metro Staffing Inc., and Midway Staffing Inc. to court arguing their no-poach and wage-fixing agreements violated the Illinois Antitrust Act.

The staffing agencies argued an exemption to the law covering labor performed by employees allowed it to skirt antitrust concerns. But the court said such a broad interpretation of the definition would defeat the purpose of the law.

“No source concerning the purpose of antitrust laws suggests that the legislature meant to leave competing employers free to collude with each other to reduce the wages they pay to their employees or to collude to prevent workers from switching to better jobs,” the opinion said.

McGuireWoods LLP represented the staffing agencies.

The case is Ill. v. Elite Staffing Inc., Ill., No. 128753, 1/19/24.