Contract forbidding work within same industry

[fraggle08]

Hi again, another work Q. My colleague told me that her contract states should she leave the company, she is not allowed to work within the same industry for 3 years. I don't think she's being truthful, as mine doesn't say anything of the sort and we do the same sort of job, but apart from that I wouldn't have thought a company can legally impose that sort of thing on you anyway, can they?For a start, once you leave that company, your contract of employment isn't valid any more, also, how can they define the industry? i tried looking it up on the web but with no luck. if anyone has experience of this or knows the answer pls put me out of my misery!

[elginred]

What kind of "industry" is it?

Did they fund her training?

And when she leaves, is she actually terminating employment altogether?

I asked the l;ast one, because I can take a career break from my current post for up to 5 years, the conditions being that I'm not allowed to work within the NHS in the UK in that time! It may be something like that.

[chelle7272]

Yes, that is a non compete clause, where if you have a particular trade they want to ensure you do not set up in competition, especially with 'inside' knowledge. There are varying degrees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_claus e

[Buenchico]

As Chelle7272 indicates, such contract provisions are fairly common.

However, whether they're enforceable is very much of a grey area. Earlier this year, the High Court ruled that a non-competition clause in a sales manager's contract could not be upheld. See the reference to 'Norbrook Laboratories (GB) Ltd v (1) Adair (2) Pfizer Ltd', here:
http://www.cr-law.co.uk/email/employment_updat eoctober08_2.htm

Chris