Supermarket chain Biedronka, transport firms fined over no-poach pact in Poland

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA

14/09/2026 10:12

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 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.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, known by its Polish acronym UOKiK, said 525 million zlotys of the total fine was imposed on Jeronimo Martins' JMT.LS Polish subsidiary, which owns the country's largest retail chain with around 3,900 stores.
Reuters has contacted Jeronimo Martins Polska for a comment.
The regulator 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.
"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."
UOKiK 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.
The fine reflects a growing regulatory focus on anti-competitive agreements across European labour markets.

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