We’ve experienced scenarios where senior ex employees have broken their restrictive covenants eg: poached a fellow employee, or taken our pricing or client details or other confidential information to their next employer who’s our competitor. Or someone who’s on 3 months notice refuses to work it out and leaves after one month. It just seems there’s very little useful action that an employer can take in these instances. Yes, we can spend money with our legal eagles and take the person to court. But if no “loss” can be proven (eg: amount of revenue lost if we lose a client as a result – very difficult to prove, as well as the downside of getting a client involved) – then all the employer gets is a huge legal bill. Withholding a good reference is a small compensation in our industry where references are seldom taken up anyway.
Apart from a slight deterrent and tons of paperwork – what are these covenants worth?
Linda Parrott
