protecting your business interests with restrictive covenants
Restrictive covenants
Restricted Covenants aim to put important contractual barriers in place when an employee leaves a business, with the aim of protecting long-term business interests and confidential information.
A restrictive covenant is typically a clause within an employment contract, restricting an employee from competing for a set period of time after employment has ended. The aim is to reduce or remove the risk of an ex-employee being able to solicit or deal with customers, or taking valuable business insight to use for the benefit of new or future employers.
Restrictive Covenants are notoriously difficult to both draft and enforce, with many covenants, simply added as ‘off the peg’ clauses in contracts failing to include significant detail and not providing any of the desired business protections.
Advice from an expert solicitor will give you the best chance of success and help you to protect the integrity of your business for the long-term.
Why professional legal support
is essential for restrictive covenants
by Stephen Forsey
Scarlett Shattock
Client Services Representative
To successfully draft an effective post termination covenant, you need a good understanding of business law, be clear of fair and proportionate limitations including scope, duration and geographic extent while also ensuring that there is agreement from both parties.
Writing a dedicated covenant agreement can take as long as drafting the contract itself. This is why it is so important to instruct an experienced employment solicitor to make sure every aspect of your agreement is watertight.
Trying to enforce a more general restriction in a contract will almost always result in failure, simply because insufficient consideration has gone into the original drafting.
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