Why Participate in Compensation Surveys? A Primer on Anti-Trust Regulations

Laurie NavasNo CommentsHome Page, Press Releases, Website Intro Message

Did you know it is illegal to share compensation data or information with another brewery or employer?

When hiring a new position or advancing current employees, employers naturally want the most current and relevant information before making salary decisions. Unfortunately, this desire runs headlong into the Department of Justice (DOJ) anti-trust regulations, which restrict companies from sharing non-public price or cost information.

The DOJ anti-trust regulations to prevent collusion is another key reason the California Craft Brewers Association is working with FutureSense to facilitate and release the 2017 California Craft Brewing Industry Compensation Study. This survey is a critical resource for brewery executives and human resource employees and a legal way for employers to collect salary and benefits information specific to the brewing industry in their region.

According to the regulations from the DOJ, competitors should not have direct/indirect contact with each other regarding the actual survey or compensation/benefit information. Companies should also not have informal calls, chats, emails, or send compensation directly to another organization.

The 2017 California Craft Brewing Industry Compensation Study follows all “safe harbor” regulations spelled out by the DOJ to ensure CCBA members and participants are fully protected and can share data freely. The recommendations include having a third party manager, gather “past” data and include information from at least five survey participants per region/data type and per job title, among other requirements.

Because of these requirements, we need as many CCBA members as possible to participate in the survey. CCBA staff and consultants from FutureSense will be contacting members in May when participation opens. Please prepare your HR/finance staff to participate so we can ensure a large amount of data is collected and we can report accurately for the state of California and each region specifically.

The final results of the 2017 California Craft Brewing Industry Compensation Study will be released in September at the California Craft Beer Summit and participating breweries individually. The survey will be available only to CCBA members at the end of 2017.

Questions about the survey? Please feel free to contact jack@futuresense.com or leia@californiacraftbeer.com.