Restrictive covenant in employment contract meaning

Interim ‘springboard’ injunctions This Practice Note examines the character and reach of interim ‘springboard’ injunctions, deployed to stop a transgressor securing an unfair competitive advantage arising from unlawful conduct. It addresses the particular circumstances in which an employer may seek a springboard injunction to curb the actions of a former employee, the evidential requirements that must be met to obtain the order, and the means by which protection is delivered in practice. It also considers how the length and breadth of the injunction can be confined and tailored. On occasion, an employer will pursue an injunction to shield themselves from the conduct of a former employee who, before employment ended, breached a post-termination restriction (restrictive covenant) or misused the employer’s confidential information and, by that misuse, gained an unfair competitive advantage over their former employer. An interim order intended to neutralise any unfair competitive advantage that might be obtained through misuse of an employer’s confidential information, breach of contract, or the commission of a tort, is commonly called...

This Practice Note This Practice Note explores employment-related claims that can or must be pursued in the High Court or the County Court. It supplies a very high-level outline of the procedures governing such claims in those courts under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR), and directs readers to further materials within the Dispute Resolution module that deliver a complete, in-depth guide to civil procedure. It also addresses: handling overlapping employment tribunal and civil court proceedings; claims concerning post-termination restraints (restrictive covenants); tort-based claims (e.g. personal injury, negligence, and workplace stress); deciding the appropriate court for the claim; judicial review; and civil court time limits, including extensions of time and how the limitation period is determined. It then provides a synopsis of the principal procedural stages of a civil court claim: pre-action requirements including the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols, adherence to pre-action protocols, pre-action conduct where no protocol applies, commencing a claim, the defendant’s steps once particulars of claim are served, case management, track allocation and directions...

Practice Note This Practice Note explores the employment tribunal’s authority to determine breach of contract claims under the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) Order 1994 (ET Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994), SI 1994/1623. It addresses claims for unpaid wages, the limits on the tribunal’s jurisdiction (including the exclusion of personal injury claims, intellectual property claims and restrictive covenant claims), the consequences of those limits where an employee’s losses exceed £25,000, time limits, breach of contract claims brought by employers, and the considerations when choosing whether to pursue a breach of contract claim in the employment tribunal or in the civil courts. Finally, it sets out proposals concerning reform of employment law hearing structures. For guidance: on unlawful deduction from wages claims, see Practice Note: Deductions from wages on the legal and practical issues to weigh when deciding whether an employee should bring a claim for unlawful deduction from wages or a claim for breach of contract, see the section of Practice...

A post-termination restriction (or restrictive covenant) A post-termination restriction, also called a restrictive covenant, in an employment contract is unenforceable from the outset unless the limits it places are reasonable, having regard to the interests of both the parties and of the public...