Restrictive covenants are often included within an employment contract by a business to protect their commercially valuable information (confidential information) from misuse after an employee leaves. Employees are usually required to agree them when joining a company and will form part of their employment contract. The pro-active employers should therefore be reviewing their contracts and restrictive covenants as well as their systems and controls to ensure they afford the right protection to those in business development, client facing and revenue generating roles.

However, with the continued competition amongst employers to attract and retain the most talented employees, the number of issues and claims arising from the breaches of restrictive covenants contained in employment contracts are on the increase. Many employers and, on the other side, employees will likely require legal assistance, especially given the complexity of this area of law and the next steps that may need to be taken, which for example may include an application to the High Court for an injunction and associated search orders as necessary.