The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC)” and the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have enhanced their coordination with the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) to improve their collective effectiveness while addressing problems facing employees across the country. These law enforcement agencies have executed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) to refine the capacity to assess fully and swiftly whether business mergers and acquisitions have an adverse effect on labor markets. The MOU and related coordination build on recent and ongoing inter-agency collaboration as well as the FTC’s more comprehensive exercise of its law enforcement authority in recent years.

In short, the MOU between the FTC, DOJ, DOL, and NLRB formally establishes the agreed-upon investigation methods for all law enforcement agencies when addressing labor market competition harms caused by corporate behavior. Once completely implemented, this expanded collaboration should promote greater transparency and, consequently, accountability regarding corporate misconduct – to the benefit of employees around the nation and to the public more broadly.