For most employers, protecting their businesses against competitive threats is a vital concern. The departure of a key employee to join a competitor, or to set up a rival business of their own, can have extremely damaging consequences. The employer may lose clients, prospects, or other staff, and their valuable confidential information and strategic plans may be put at risk.
In this article, Toni Lorenzo and Michael Anderson consider a range of key practical, legal and commercial issues for employers looking to enforce restrictive covenants against employees who threaten to compete when they leave or go on to do so. They consider the scope of protection that restrictive covenants can offer, when and how to amend existing covenants, and how to enforce them. They also examine how businesses can manage the risks when recruiting employees with restrictive covenants from competing businesses.
This article first appeared in the May 2020 issue of PLC Magazine
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