The government has announced an intention to introduce new legislation to restrict the duration of non-compete restrictive covenants to three months.
The press release makes it clear that employers will still be able to restrict activities during (paid) garden leave or notice periods - the three month limit will apply only to post-termination covenants. Nor will the new law affect non-solicitation clauses (which will continue to be subject to the ‘no more than is reasonably necessary to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests’ test), or confidentiality clauses. The press release is silent about non-dealing clauses.
The timetable is unclear. This will require primary legislation, and the press release states it will be done “when parliamentary time allows”. Which could be never.
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