Restrictions in Employment Contracts

Your confidential information and customer list would be of immense value to your competitors.

To protect your position, specific restrictions can be incorporated into your employment contracts. These restrictions are known as Restrictive Covenants.

Restrictive Covenants prevent employees using your confidential information during their employment and after it finishes. They can also restrict what your employees can do, such as preventing competition, and contacting your clients or customers.

These restrictions are very difficult to get right. The law only allows you to impose Restrictive Covenants that are no more than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. If the Restrictive Covenants go any further, then a Court would find them to be unenforceable as an unlawful restraint of trade.

There are no hard rules to ensure Restrictive Covenants are enforceable. Each case is taken by the courts on its own merits. Relevant factors include industry standard, the geographic area in which you operate, and whether the employee shall be prevented from earning a living.

We take the time to really get to know your business and consider the risks that you are likely to face. We shall then make recommendations on which Restrictive Covenants are actually required to protect your business, and the Courts are more likely to enforce.

We are also able to advise whether existing Restrictive Covenants are likely to be sufficient to protect your business. If not, we can make recommendations, and advise you on the best way to change your employment contracts.

Things do go wrong and Restrictive Covenants can be broken. If that happens, we can advise you on the best course of action.