Restrictions of Working for Competitors

JOD1989

Hi All,

I currently work in the automotive industry and have a received a job offer for another company in the automotive industry but I am concerned with some of terms of the contract, specifically the section about Restrictions of at the End Of Employment.

It says the following:

Restrictions of Working for Competitors

You will not for the period of six months from the Termination Date engage in any activity or employment in the faithful performance of which it could reasonably be anticipated that you
could or would be required or expected to use or disclose any trade secrets acquired by you during the course of your employment with the Company to any competitor of the Company or any Group Company.

Does anybody have experience with this? Would this stop me from going and working with any other automotive company. I do not know how to interpret reasonably be anticipated that you
could or would be required or expected to use or disclose any trade secrets acquired by you during the course of your employment with the Company

Thanks in advance.

agrinnall

You might want to take a look at this current thread asking something very similar.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5633078

steampowered

The starting point is that restrictive covenants are interpreted narrowly by the courts.

The clause you have posted would only bite if you are moving into a role where you would be expected to use or disclose "trade secrets" of your former employer to your new employer.

What is your role exactly? Most people would not be dealing with trade secrets.

I'd think the clause would only be relevant if you are in some sort of specialist engineering development role (where the employer is worried you'd steal their blueprints) or sales role (where the employer is worried you'd steal their list of customers).

JOD1989

steampowered wrote: »

The starting point is that restrictive covenants are interpreted narrowly by the courts.

The clause you have posted would only bite if you are moving into a role where you would be expected to use or disclose "trade secrets" of your former employer to your new employer.

What is your role exactly? Most people would not be dealing with trade secrets.

I'd think the clause would only be relevant if you are in some sort of specialist engineering development role (where the employer is worried you'd steal their blueprints) or sales role (where the employer is worried you'd steal their list of customers).

My role is a Research Engineer - Motor Control Specialist, so a relatively technical role. I mean the clause as a whole is quite broad/general and from what I've read that typically means it wouldn't be upheld (for example they haven't listed a geographical location), but to be honest I do not want to get involved in a legal dispute to begin with.

steampowered

I think the first thing is to work out whether the clause actually covers before - before worrying too much about legal disputes on enforceability.

Is the nature of the roles you are looking for such that you would be expected to disclose the trade secrets of your previous employer?

paddyrg

TBH that clause is less onerous than many employers try to get away with - there's plenty of breathing room in that one if for instance the new job is to be a ratch engineer in fuels, or traction, or anything that isn't directly about motors for the first 6 months.

sangie595

paddyrg wrote: »

TBH that clause is less onerous than many employers try to get away with - there's plenty of breathing room in that one if for instance the new job is to be a ratch engineer in fuels, or traction, or anything that isn't directly about motors for the first 6 months.

I agree. I have some experience of this area of work as friends boyfriend works in a similar field. And yes, I believe it is common and quite possibly enforceable. This industry isn't one that had many sites - we are not talking about the local garage! They're will be a restricted number of competitors and a restricted number of places they will have facilities. So the lack of any geographical limitation may not be a major factor, because that itself could be reasonable.

And the clause is very tightly worded. It does not say you cannot work for a competitor. It says that you can't work for a conspirator in a position where you would be required to our expected to disclose trade secrets. So if you were both in a race to develop something for a potential client, working on the same development would definitely put you in that position. If you were involved in some development of a unique item or technology, and you moved to a job that was looking to develop that same thing, or would benefit from it. Basically, they are looking to stop a competitor pacing toy for your knowledge of their business. And if any (potential) employer were to put you in that position, then you might want to think hard about how loyal they would be to you, and what your reputation would be like, at the end of your usefulness.

But if you were working on something entirely different from what your employer is doing for the first six months, you'd be free and clear.

That sounds reasonable and fair.

TELLIT01

The purpose of the covenant / restriction is to prevent you passing on information about current / past developments which could be helpful to a competitor. If your new work will not be affected by that then there isn't a problem. Where it could get messy is if your current employer is developing a super widget and you have been involved in that; 3 months down the line your new employer comes up, entirely independantly, with the same super widget idea. If you then had any involvement in the development you could have a problem.

JOD1989

Its still not clear to me. Lets look at two scenario's

Scenario 1) I work on a special motor control method that is patented and considered a 'trade secret'. I then look to move to another company and work in the same field (motor control). Would I not be allowed to work for that company or would it just be that I am not allowed to develop a similar motor control method for them.

Scenario 2) I do not work on any patented motor control method but just advance my knowledge in that area (as would be expected in any job). I then look to move to another company and again work in the same field (motor control). Is this allowed as most of the knowledge I would have gained is not patented and available knowledge to anyone.

I guess I do not fully understand what the definition of trade secrets. My role is quite specialised and something I enjoy so I am concerned I would be limited from working in the motor control field.