Polish regulator fines Biedronka owner, transport firms for driver no-poach pact (updated)

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA

14/09/2026 11:52

Adds company comment in paragraph 5
GDANSK, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The Polish consumer authority said on Monday it had fined supermarket chain Biedronka, 29 transport firms and eight individuals more than 570 million zlotys ($142.5 million) for a no-poach pact affecting drivers.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, known by its Polish acronym UOKiK, said the bulk of the total fine, 525 million zlotys, was imposed on Jeronimo Martins' JMT.LS Polish subsidiary, which owns the country's largest retail chain with around 3,900 stores.
The European Commission has reviewed the case and agreed the conduct breached EU competition rules, giving bloc-level backing to the Polish decision, the watchdog said.
Jeronimo Martins Polska said in an emailed statement to Reuters that actions restricting labour market competition were "inconsistent with the operating philosophy" of its supply chain and internal policies.
"We believe the company did not engage in the practices the President of UOKiK has cited, and we will therefore appeal the decision to the competent court," the company said in a follow-up statement.
UOKiK said the arrangement, which ran from June 2017 until at least February 2024, involved transport companies agreeing not to hire each other's drivers, which may have held down wages for thousands of workers.
The regulator alleged Jeronimo Martins Polska organised and enforced the scheme, using its dominant position in the retail market to block access to its distribution centres for drivers who switched jobs against the pact.
"A conspiracy that takes away this right from employees strikes at the basic principles of fair competition," UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement. "Such practices must be resolutely eliminated from the market."
The imposed fines reflect a growing regulatory focus on anti-competitive agreements across European labour markets.

 (Reporting by Marta Maciag and Rafał Nowak, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
 ((Marta.Maciag@thomsonreuters.com;))