Restrictive covenants can continue to affect you after your employment ends, particularly if you plan to join a competitor, contact former clients, or recruit former colleagues. These clauses are designed to protect certain business interests, but they are not automatically enforceable simply because they appear in your contract.
Whether a restriction can be enforced depends on what it protects, how widely it is drafted and whether it goes further than reasonably necessary. That is often where the real dispute lies.
Different restrictive covenants protect different things
A restrictive covenant is a contractual term that limits certain activities after employment ends. It may appear in your employment contract, a later contractual variation, a settlement agreement or another document connected with your employment.
The main types include:
| Restriction | What it may seek to prevent |
| Non-compete | Working for, joining, or establishing a competing business |
| Non-solicitation | Actively approaching specified former clients or customers |
| Non-dealing | Doing business with specified customers, even if they approach you |
| Non-poaching | Encouraging certain former colleagues to leave and join you elsewhere |
| Confidentiality | Using or disclosing protected confidential information after employment |
Small differences in drafting can materially change what a covenant prevents. A clause restricting contact with clients you dealt with personally is different from one that attempts to cover every customer of the business.
If you are checking which obligations form part of your employment relationship, our guide to employees’ terms and conditions provides further background.
When can a restrictive covenant be enforced?
The legal starting point is that a post-employment restraint is unenforceable unless the former employer can show that it protects a legitimate business interest and is no wider than reasonably necessary in the circumstances.
Legitimate interests can include confidential information, customer relationships and the stability of the workforce. An employer cannot justify a restrictive covenant merely by seeking to prevent competition.
There is no single test based on the number of months written into a clause. Factors that may be relevant include:
- the role held when the covenant was entered into;
- seniority and responsibilities;
- access to confidential or commercially sensitive information;
- relationships with customers, suppliers or colleagues;
- the activities being restricted;
- the duration of the restriction; and
- any geographical or customer limits.
The reasonableness of a covenant is generally assessed by reference to the circumstances when it was entered into, including what the parties could reasonably have contemplated at that time. Later promotions or changes in responsibilities do not, by themselves, determine whether an earlier restriction is enforceable.
Can a six-month or twelve-month covenant be enforceable?
Potentially. There is no rule making every covenant of a particular duration valid or invalid.
Duration is only one part of the assessment. A court may also consider what conduct, customers and geographical area the clause restricts, together with the legitimate business interest said to require protection.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd concerned a six-month non-compete restriction. The Court considered the scope of the clause and whether problematic wording could be severed while leaving the remainder of the covenant enforceable.
The case illustrates why the number of months alone does not provide a reliable answer.
Is there a three-month limit on non-compete clauses?
There is currently no statutory three-month maximum for non-compete clauses.
A previous government announced plans for a three-month cap, but that proposal was not brought into force. The issue has since been reconsidered as part of a wider review of non-compete clauses.
The government’s working paper on reform of non-compete clauses considered several possible approaches, including statutory limits on duration and wider reform of how non-competes operate. The working paper closed for responses on 18 February 2026.
As at October 2026, no statutory cap has been brought into force, so existing common-law principles continue to apply.
You should therefore not assume that a restriction lasting more than three months can simply be disregarded.
Can a former employer stop you joining a competitor?
A non-compete clause can potentially restrict a move to a competitor, but it is not enforceable merely because your former employer would prefer you not to work for a rival.
The question is not simply whether you are joining a competitor, but what the covenant actually prevents you from doing there and whether that restriction is reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate interest.
For example, restrictions dealing specifically with customer relationships or confidential information may be relevant when considering whether a wider prohibition on working for a competitor is justified.
Before accepting a competing role, it is worth checking whether the covenant:
- prevents employment with any competitor or only particular activities;
- applies to a defined market, territory or type of business;
- covers customers you actually dealt with or a wider group;
- specifies when the restricted period begins; and
- interacts with garden leave, notice provisions or other post-termination terms.
The wording should be considered against the circumstances in which the restriction was agreed rather than assessed by its heading alone.
What happens if your former employer alleges a breach?
A former employer may take legal action if it considers that an enforceable restrictive covenant has been breached.
Government guidance on restrictive covenants after giving notice explains that an employer may take an employee to court over a breach.
Depending on the circumstances, a former employer may seek damages for losses it says were caused by the breach or apply for an injunction restricting particular conduct.
An application for an interim injunction can be significant because it may be heard before the underlying dispute has been finally determined. Our guide to injunctions explains how this type of court order operates, including in disputes involving post-employment restrictions.
Receiving a warning letter does not, by itself, establish that the covenant is enforceable. The restriction and the circumstances surrounding it still need to be assessed.
Check more than your original employment contract
The contract you signed when you first joined may not be the only document affecting what you can do after leaving.
Before joining a competitor, establishing another business or contacting former customers, check whether restrictions appear in:
- your original employment contract;
- later contractual variations;
- documents issued following a promotion or change of role;
- a settlement agreement;
- a shareholders’ or incentive agreement, where relevant; or
- another agreement entered into when your employment ended.
It is also worth checking exactly which clients, colleagues, activities and time periods the wording covers.
Garden leave and notice provisions may affect the practical position, so these terms should be considered alongside the restrictive covenant rather than in isolation.
If a prospective employer asks whether you are subject to restrictions, understanding the documents first can help you avoid giving assurances that do not accurately reflect your contractual position.
When is it worth taking legal advice?
You cannot usually determine enforceability from the label “non-compete” or the length of the restriction alone.
Legal advice may be worth considering before accepting a competing role, establishing a competing business, approaching former clients or recruiting former colleagues where a covenant could materially affect your plans.
It may also be appropriate to seek advice promptly if your former employer has alleged a breach or threatened court proceedings or an injunction.
Through our employment advice for employees, we advise individuals on confidentiality clauses and restrictive covenants they are being asked to sign, or that may limit their next move.
If a restriction could affect your plans after leaving employment, our Employment team can review the relevant wording and advise you on the legal and practical position before you decide how to proceed.
Please note that this article provides general information on employment law in England and Wales and does not constitute legal advice. The enforceability of restrictive covenants depends on the wording of the agreement and the individual circumstances.