“Anti-Poaching Provisions” in the franchise context are designed to prevent franchisees from stealing each other’s employees. Oftentimes, such provisions are limited to preclude solicitation and recruitment of employees. But Jackson Hewett’s franchise system added that franchisees could not hire another franchisee’s employee, even if no action was taken to solicit or recruit the person. Recently, the New Jersey District Court permitted a class action by Jackson Hewitt employees to go forward in which the employees claimed that “anti-Poaching Provisions” negatively affected their job mobility and compensation. See Robinson v. Jackson Hewitt, 2019 WL 5617512 (D.N.J. Oct. 31, 2019).
