Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Restrictive covenants definition

What does Restrictive covenants mean? In legal practice, restrictive covenants are contractual promises not to engage in specified activities, typically competing with a business, soliciting or dealing with its customers or suppliers, or poaching its staff. The term is descriptive rather than statutory, and enforceability is governed primarily by case law applying restraint of trade principles across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. A restrictive covenant will only be enforceable if it protects a legitimate business interest (such as goodwill, confidential information or workforce stability) and goes no further than is reasonably necessary in scope of activities, duration and geographic reach. Confidentiality provisions are...

Employment: employee competition, confidentiality and post-termination restrictions—practitioner guide to duties, enforceability and enforcement, with precedents and case law

Published by a LexisNexis Employment expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note provides links to resources on Employee competition and Confidentiality, covering post-termination restrictions (also known as Restrictive covenants). Across these materials, the term 'post-termination restrictions' is used in preference to 'restrictive covenants'.

Our documents on employee competition and confidentiality are organised into three areas:

Employee duties and restrictions on competition: explores the obligations an employee owes their Employer, especially how these bear on the degree to which an employee may compete with a present or past employer
Determining whether restrictions are enforceable: addresses issues arising when interpreting restrictions, and therefore the considerations when drafting post-termination restrictions
Confidentiality, duties and restrictions: enforcement: concentrates on practical measures an employer can take to enforce employee duties, for example concerning confidential information, along with the process for, and remedies available in, court proceedings

A complete listing of documents within these three areas appears below.

Employee duties and restrictions on competition

This subtopic analyses the obligations an employee owes their employer, notably how they connect to the extent an employee may compete with their current or former employer...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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