Restrictive covenants

Worried about losing confidential information?

Need to enforce a restrictive covenant?

When a senior employee leaves your company you may naturally be concerned about losing confidential information about your technology, strategic information, customers or clients to competitors.

One way to protect your business against damage from potential disclosures is by introducing restrictive covenants into your contracts of employment. Such clauses must be drafted with care to be legally binding.

At Myers & Co, our employment lawyers can advise you how to protect your legitimate business interests and correctly draft bespoke contracts and supporting documents for individual employees. We understand which restrictive covenants need to be applied in your specific circumstances and the geographic limitations and timescales for them to be enforceable.

You may be able to introduce covenants for:

• non-solicitation – the employee promises not to approach your clients, customers and suppliers;
• non-competition – the employee promises not to work in similar employment for a competitor;
• non-dealing – the employee promises not to deal with your clients, customers or suppliers, even if they are approached;
• non-poaching – the employee promises not to poach former colleagues; and
• gardening leave – the employee serves out their notice period at home preventing them from taking up employment elsewhere and from breaching the restrictive covenants.

Should a former employee be in breach of a restrictive covenant in their contract we can take enforcement action on your behalf. A simple ‘letter before action’ could curb the employee’s actions but, if necessary, we can swiftly initiate court proceedings for an injunction against further disclosure and apply for compensation for damages.

Our EmployerAssist service could provide you with further peace of mind, giving you a dedicated helpline to our employment law specialists, a bespoke annual audit, access to our database of contracts and policies and regular updates at a fixed monthly cost.

Based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, our specialist employment solicitors offer independent legal advice and representation on all types of employment law problems.  To find out more, contact us on 01782 577000.