If you are made redundant are you still bound by your old contract?

My mate is facing possible redundancy and was wonder if is he still bound by his employment contract. Basically he signed a contract years ago saying that should they part ways he cant work for a competitor. Does this change when they let you go?

No - terms that survive termination stay in place (another example would be confidentiality). If it was me, I'd try to negotiate an exception and put it into the redundancy agreement (if there is one).

Hi Sharky

Some of these restricted contractual terms are not enforceable in law.

I agree with WaterSprite. The employer might not mind giving permission to work for a competitor as they probably think that there are no jobs available.

Brendan

I though those terms were unenforceable anyway ?

We did away with indentured servitude quite a while ago.

It's certainly true that some of the non-compete clauses in employment agreements may not be enforceable. To be enforceable in Ireland, the clauses need to be reasonable as to (i) scope (i.e. what are they trying to stop you doing) (ii) geography and (iii) time.

E.g. If you worked for Microsoft and they said you couldn't work for anyone competing with Microsoft anywhere in the world for a year, that would probably be unenforceable (MS being so huge and having so many competitors, for one thing). But, if you held a sales position in a local estate agents and they said you couldn't work in a sales or mgmt capacity for an estate agent within 25 miles of your employer for 3 months after termination, that would probably/possibly be enforceable.

Unfortunately, there's no bright line in these things as it depends very much on the industry you are in and the position you hold.