What does this mean? (Employment contract)

Whoknows

Gavin83 wrote: »

I assume they’re planning on paying you for this 6 month period and place you on gardening leave?

No, they are letting me go whilst making a big thing out of doing so to be kind. They are wanting me to sign a confidentiality agreement before I leave and are basically saying that I should sign it, as they could've stopped me from working for my new employer for six months if I don't.

TELLIT01

Whoknows wrote: »

No, they are letting me go whilst making a big thing out of doing so to be kind. They are wanting me to sign a confidentiality agreement before I leave and are basically saying that I should sign it, as they could've stopped me from working for my new employer for six months if I don't.

If signing the confidentiality agreement means there will be no restrictions on where you work, it may be worth doing. Certainly cheaper and easier than engaging legal expertise to fight your cause after leaving.
Although the restrictions in your current contract may be unenforcable you need to decide whether it's worth taking that risk.

Gavin83

TELLIT01 wrote: »

If signing the confidentiality agreement means there will be no restrictions on where you work, it may be worth doing. Certainly cheaper and easier than engaging legal expertise to fight your cause after leaving.
Although the restrictions in your current contract may be unenforcable you need to decide whether it's worth taking that risk.

I agree with this. If signing the confidentiality agreement means they'll back down and leave you be it's probably worth doing so. Even though the term in the contract is likely unenforceable they could make this very awkward for you, ultimately leading to you losing your new job offer. This is of course assuming the confidentiality agreement is reasonable and doesn't include anything unusual.

Wayne_O_Mac

And the moral of this story is that if you're confident you're not prevented from working by a covenant, then as far as possible don't tell your old employer where you're going.

Gavin83

Wayne_O_Mac wrote: »

And the moral of this story is that if you're confident you're not prevented from working by a covenant, then as far as possible don't tell your old employer where you're going.

This only works if you don’t need to use your old employer as a reference.

Wayne_O_Mac

Hence why I said as far as possible. I know it's unavoidable in some circumstances.

Energize

sangie595 wrote: »

They are highly unlikely to have the skill to respond to this kind of enquiry. If you want certainty then you'd need to get a legal opinion, and that is unlikely to be free.

The CAB do have employment solicitors doing pro bono work. I have used their services in the past to obtain legal advice.