The four defendants were employed by the first plaintiff, Hanover Insurance Brokers Ltd under service contracts. They left to set up their own firm. Their contracts contained provisions restricting activities during the 12 months after the termination of his employment. This action was brought to enforce those restrictions during the relevant 12 month periods.
Held: A broker was not entitled to impose a covenant on staff as they are not assets.
Dillon LJ noted the difficulties in law with non-poaching agreements between employers. Those difficulties arise because of the right of an employee to work for his or her employer of choice.
He expressed: ‘a general view . . that an employer does not have any sort of proprietary interest in a stable team of staff entitling the employer to impose restrictions on solicitation of staff’.
Dillon, Nolan LJJ
Times 17-Nov-1993, [1994] IRLR 82, [1993] EWCA Civ 2
Bailii
England and Wales
Updated: 25 September 2021; Ref: scu.81223 br>