Post Employment Restraint
Post employment restraints are a common feature in many
employment contracts, especially for employees who hold senior
roles. In order to be enforced, such a restraint must be carefully
drafted as, at common law, an unreasonable restraint is void for
being contrary to public policy.
Post employment restraints are presumed to be unenforceable
unless, the employer seeking to enforce a restraint is able to show
that the restraint was reasonable at the time it was agreed to. A
post employment restraint cannot be imposed to merely protect the
employer from competition from an ex-employee or to prevent a
valuable employee from being employed elsewhere. In seeking to
enforce a restraint, an employer must establish that it has a
legitimate interest in imposing the restraint and that the
restraint is no wider than is reasonably necessary.
