Change Ahead For Non Compete Clauses
Reasons to choose Wilson Browne
The Government is proposing to introduce new legislation with regard to non-compete clauses that seek to prevent former employees from working for ‘competitors’.
The proposal is such that the length of these clauses is reduced and limited to 3 months; however, this only applies post-termination (so employers will still be able to restrict employees that are on garden leave or working their notice period before the termination of their employment). Whereas currently, the duration of such clauses ranges from a month to 12 months, the latter being only in exceptional cases.
The Government recognises that these clauses can play an important role in protecting businesses that invest in their staff but that they can also be unnecessarily burdensome.
It is unclear when the new legislation will be in force, however, the Government has made it clear that the new law will not have any impact on non-solicitation clauses. It appears that it will also not have any impact on non-dealing and confidential clauses.