Good Day all
With alternative industry offers opened, I tendered my resignation (ample notice) to my current employer. A week after this notice was lodged and accepted, I was approached by a competitor (in my current industry), with an offer of employment doing the same role I am currently doing. It is a very attractive offer, however I am unsure if I am bound by restraints in my contract.
Restraint clauses in my current contract are as follows:
"12.1 You undertake to the Employer that you will not, during the course of your employment with the
Employer, and for the restricted period after the termination of your employment with the Employer,
directly or indirectly:...(b) solicit, approach or accept any approach from any person or entity who was, during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the termination of your employment, a customer or
client of, or a referrer of customers or clients to, the Employer or its related entities, with a
view to establishing a relationship with or obtaining the custom of that person or entity in a
capacity which is the same or substantially similar to the relationship that person or entity has
with the Employer or its related entities.
...
12.3 Unless authorised in writing by the Employer, the Employee will not, during the life of this Agreement,
perform any work for an alternative employer or principal where such new employer or principal may
reasonably be considered a competitor to any Client of the Employer. A competitor to a Client of the
Employer shall be any organisation or body which currently provides, or is proposing to provide, the
same products or services as the Employer or Client of the Employer. This competition restraint
shall extend to the performance of work for a competitor to a Client of the Employer through an
alternative employment agency, contractor or recruitment firm."
Considering these clauses, am I prevented from accepting employment with this competing company?
With alternative industry offers opened, I tendered my resignation (ample notice) to my current employer. A week after this notice was lodged and accepted, I was approached by a competitor (in my current industry), with an offer of employment doing the same role I am currently doing. It is a very attractive offer, however I am unsure if I am bound by restraints in my contract.
Restraint clauses in my current contract are as follows:
"12.1 You undertake to the Employer that you will not, during the course of your employment with the
Employer, and for the restricted period after the termination of your employment with the Employer,
directly or indirectly:...(b) solicit, approach or accept any approach from any person or entity who was, during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the termination of your employment, a customer or
client of, or a referrer of customers or clients to, the Employer or its related entities, with a
view to establishing a relationship with or obtaining the custom of that person or entity in a
capacity which is the same or substantially similar to the relationship that person or entity has
with the Employer or its related entities.
...
12.3 Unless authorised in writing by the Employer, the Employee will not, during the life of this Agreement,
perform any work for an alternative employer or principal where such new employer or principal may
reasonably be considered a competitor to any Client of the Employer. A competitor to a Client of the
Employer shall be any organisation or body which currently provides, or is proposing to provide, the
same products or services as the Employer or Client of the Employer. This competition restraint
shall extend to the performance of work for a competitor to a Client of the Employer through an
alternative employment agency, contractor or recruitment firm."
Considering these clauses, am I prevented from accepting employment with this competing company?
