Sign in

Courtesy navigation

Forum - Can my old employer stop me from having contact with any of my old clients.

Can my old employer stop me from having contact with any of my old clients.

Tue, 25/01/2011 - 14:18 — deandow

I have recently left my last employer to join another in the same field as before, my last employer made me sign a contract that stated I could not have any contact with any client for a period of 12 months.
I have recently received a strong worded letter accusing me of contacting my old clients and threatining that they are going to take out a court injunction against me and seek damages.
The "clients" I have been speaking with were already clients of my new company, am I allowed to speak with threse clients and are these none approach clauses enforcable, surely this goes against my human rights to work?

Add this
jodavis's picture

Hi there,

The extent to which a company can prevent a former employee from contacting their clients is relatively complex. Much will depend on any post termination restrictions against, for example, soliciting their business or dealing with them.

In the absence of such clauses, the employee is generally fairly free to contact former clients, provided they didn't do anything untoward while still employed by the company. However, if there is a restriction, the legal starting point is that they are in restraint of trade and therefore unenforceable.

The courts will only allow the company to enforce restrictions if they are absolutely necessary to protect the company's legitimate business interests, which in general means its confidential information or customer connections. So, to be enforceable, the clauses must be very tightly drafted and limited in terms of time and the specific clients that the employee actually had dealings with, not just all clients of the business.

If you are threatened, the best advice is to seek legal help as soon as possible. If you find yourself on the wrong end of an injunction to enforce the covenant, it can be very expensive. It may be best to simply capitulate and give undertakings to adhere to the restrictions going forward, if they are well drafted and enforceable.

- Jo

Tue, 25/01/2011 - 17:29 — jodavis

Add a comment

Not registered? We'll create a new account for you when you add your comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <p>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Create an account

Not registered? We'll create a new account for you when you add your comment.
Account information
Your name on the Donut websites
Personal information
Your first and last name, please
We'll send your registration details here
Just the first part - eg SW17
Not in the UK? You can still leave comments:
I would like to receive the My Donut e-newsletter
Type the characters you see in this picture. (verify using audio)
Anti-spam check - enter the characters you see

When you click 'Register' to create a new account, you accept our terms of service and privacy policy

We monitor conversations on the Donut forum. Please see our terms and conditions of use.