Currently, non-compete post-employment restrictions can be the hardest to enforce and must not go further than is reasonable to protect an employer’s legitimate business interests.
The Government has recently announced an intention to restrict the duration of non-compete restrictive covenants to three months by law.
Employers will still be able to restrict activities during garden leave or periods of notice, when the employee remains in paid employment.
The new law will not affect non-solicitation clauses or confidentiality clauses.
No time scale has been given but the press release states it will be done “when parliamentary time allows”.