Employment law - Director

[Underparmummy]

Hi any employment lawyers out there..

In the absence of any kind of employment contract what would be assumed as a non compete clause for a director resigning?

Also, what notice period is appropriate for a director after ten years if there is no contract?

TIA for any advice

For simplicity, I will assume you are the director concerned.

If there has been no written statement of employment particulars, you are required to give one week's notice.

Non-compete is more complicated. If you are considering setting up in competition with your current employer or joining a competitor, there are only limited things you can do whilst still a director. You can discuss potential projects with friends and family, but that's about it. You cannot:

• negotiate and agree terms of employment with a competitor
• encourage a competitor to recruit employees
• contact lawyers with details of your proposals
• buy an off the shelf company
• identify premises
• sign a lease

The above is not an exhaustive list.

However, once you leave your employer, in the absence of a non-compete clause you can do whatever you want.

Thank you very much, so there would have to be a natural gap before anything competing because you would have to be able to prove you left the company and then started discussions/plans after that with no overlap basically?

If they were to make me redundant or offer compromise would it just be statutory redundancy in that case?

Thank you again.

Yes, leaving a clear gap and showing you didn't do anything towards competing while you were with your current employer would be a good idea.

No-one can say what would happen if they made you redundant or offered a settlement agreement. That is up to your employer. They could just offer statutory redundancy pay, or they could offer more.