Employment Law: More Issues With Restraint Clauses – Three Recent Cases

Restraint of trade clauses are notoriously difficult to enforce. In order to be enforceable, the employer needs to demonstrate that it has a legitimate business interest to protect and that the clause it has used to try to protect this interest goes no wider than is reasonably necessary.

Three interesting decisions were handed down in February this year which demonstrate the difficulties of successfully drafting and enforcing restraint of trade clauses. These decisions also highlight the importance of employee conduct as a factor in decisions on restraint-related injunctions, and the misplaced optimism of employers who pay consideration for their employees’ adherence to restraint clauses.