We appreciate the inherent risk to businesses of employees jumping ship to work for competitors and the need for employers to protect their business interests, both whilst the employment relationship continues and after it terminates.
The main concerns include protecting the client/customer base and trade connections, maintaining workforce stability and protecting confidential information from unauthorised disclosure.
Our employment law experts prepare robust business protection provisions in employment contracts and director service agreements tailored to the needs of the business and the role of the relevant employee.
This includes provisions dealing with intellectual property ownership, confidentiality and post-termination restrictive covenants.
Post-termination restrictive covenants cover potential threats to your business when the employment relationship ends and typically include non-compete restrictions, non-solicitation and non-dealing with customers/clients, business disruption and non-poaching of employees/key staff and restrictions to prevent/deter team moves (so far as possible and where applicable).
We can review and update restrictive covenants to place you in a stronger position to enforce such restrictions further down the line should an employee leave and threaten your legitimate business interests.
Get in touch using this contact form or call us on 0161 969 3131.
Careful drafting of provisions for business protections & restrictive coventants
Given the breadth of case law in this area and the risk to your business if restrictions are deemed unreasonable and unenforceable if drafted too widely, we strongly recommend that advice is sought before issuing contracts to key and senior individuals containing restrictive covenants.
Our employment law specialists can also provide advice on the enforceability of restrictive covenants and work closely with our Dispute Resolution Team in relation to your enforcement options, should departing employees seek to breach their restrictions.