Restrictive covenants, sometimes called post termination restrictions, can decide whether you can take your next job, keep your clients, hire former colleagues, or launch your own business. This guide explains what these clauses mean in practice and how to spot wording that is wider than it needs to be.
If you want your actual wording extracted and summarised, Vordex can scan your contract and pull out every restriction, including schedules and documents incorporated by reference.
Post termination restrictions, sometimes shortened to PTRs, are clauses that limit what you can do after your employment ends. They are designed to protect the employer during the period when you leave with knowledge, contacts and credibility.
A restriction is not automatically enforceable just because you signed it. In the UK, restraints of trade are treated cautiously. Employers typically need to show that the clause is necessary and reasonable to protect a legitimate business interest.
Restrictions usually run from your termination date. Timing can become messy if you have a long notice period, garden leave, pay in lieu of notice, or a clause that reduces the restricted period by time spent on garden leave.
If your contract does not include a set off clause, you can face a practical double hit: a long period on garden leave followed by a full post termination restriction. Whether the overall effect is reasonable depends on the facts, but the risk is real.
When you read a restrictions clause, focus on definitions. They control the real scope.
Broad or vague definitions usually mean higher risk.
Scan your contract and extract every post termination restriction, including hidden schedules and incorporated documents.
Many contracts use a bundle of targeted covenants rather than one broad restriction. Courts are generally more comfortable enforcing narrower clauses.
A non compete clause restricts you from working for a competitor or setting up a competing business for a defined period.
Non solicitation usually restricts actively approaching your former employer’s customers or clients.
If you are joining a competitor, this covenant often decides whether bringing business across is safe.
Non dealing can be stricter than non solicitation. It may prevent you doing business with certain clients even if they approach you first.
This can be commercially severe because it removes the "they came to me" defence. If drafted broadly, for example covering any client of any group company whether or not you knew them, enforceability becomes more questionable.
Non poaching restrictions limit recruiting or encouraging colleagues to leave. Employers use them to prevent team raids after a move to a competitor or a new venture.
Even if your contract has no non compete clause, you may still be constrained by confidentiality and trade secret obligations, return of property rules, data deletion duties, intellectual property clauses, and notice or garden leave provisions.
Related reading: Employment contract clauses checklist.
Restrictive covenants are not automatically valid. The practical test is usually the same: does the clause protect a legitimate business interest, and is it no wider than reasonably necessary.
Courts assess the wording of the covenant, not what an employer says it intended. Four levers tend to matter most.
A technical point that catches people out: reasonableness is typically assessed when the covenant was agreed, not when you leave.
If an employer introduces a new restrictive covenant after you start work, it usually needs to give something of value in return, such as a pay rise, promotion, new benefits, or a bonus arrangement.
If a covenant is drafted too broadly, a court may refuse to enforce it. Sometimes a court can remove clearly separable words, but it will not rewrite the clause to make it fair.
If an employer believes you are breaching enforceable restrictions, the immediate risk is often an injunction. That can temporarily stop you working, contacting clients, or recruiting people while the dispute plays out.
If you have restrictions, treat your transition like a compliance exercise.
This is not about panic. It is about reducing predictable legal leverage your former employer can use against you.
Policy reform is active again in 2026, but you should not assume the law has already changed. As of early March 2026, there is no statutory cap in force. Enforceability still turns on legitimate interest and reasonableness.
A Government response published in May 2023 stated an intention to introduce a statutory limit of three months for non compete clauses in contracts of employment and limb (b) worker contracts in Great Britain.
That proposal was not implemented at the time, so the existing common law position still matters.
A Department for Business and Trade working paper was published in November 2025 and closed for responses on 18 February 2026. It explores multiple approaches, including a cap, different caps by employer size, a salary threshold approach, or an outright ban.
On 25 February 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority published its response and supported a combined approach: a ban below a salary threshold with a statutory limit above it.
The practical impact of reform discussion is leverage. If you are being asked to sign a long non compete now, you have a credible policy direction to point to, even while the final legal position is still being worked through.
Guesswork is expensive. Vordex scans your contract and pulls out the exact restrictive covenant wording so you can see what is restricted and what is merely implied.
Start free to see whether your contract contains restrictive covenants and where they sit. Upgrade when the downside is higher.
A quick scan to confirm whether your contract includes restrictive covenants and where the wording sits.
Focused extraction and summary for standard roles and standard covenant packs.
Best for senior roles, broad competitor definitions, long restricted periods, or complex document packs.
Upload your contract and extract the exact wording, scope and stacking risks before you make your next move.
Related pages: Employment Contract Review UK * Employment contract clauses checklist
If you need to scan another document, try: NDA Review UK.
Important note: Vordex is a decision support tool and does not provide legal advice.
Quick answers to common restrictive covenant questions.
No. A restrictive covenant is usually treated as a restraint of trade. Employers typically need to show it protects a legitimate business interest and goes no further than is reasonably necessary on duration, scope and who it covers.
Most post termination restrictions run from your termination date. The picture can be complicated by notice periods, garden leave and pay in lieu of notice. Your contract wording matters.
Only if a non compete clause is enforceable on its wording and the facts. Courts tend to scrutinise non compete clauses heavily because they restrict your ability to earn a living.
Non solicitation usually targets active approaches to clients. Non dealing can go further by restricting business with certain clients even if they contact you first.
It can. If new restrictions are introduced mid employment, the employer will usually need to provide something of value in return. This is one reason contract change history matters.
No. Vordex is a decision support tool. It extracts the wording, flags scope and stacking risks, and explains practical implications in plain English. For advice on enforceability or disputes, speak to a qualified UK employment solicitor.