Restrictive covenants?

[namechange1112w]

Anyone with knowledge on the law as I'm worried.
Going self employed.
Just left previous employer and they have a restrictive covenant that says one cannot Work in the same trade in a 10 mile radius (bigger than our town!) for one year after leaving.
I was on min wage there and not senior.
Is this enforceable? It feels like they want to stop me working at all. They don't know where I'm going but if they were to find out? New place I'm self employed is nearby.

I didn't actually sign the restrictive Covenant part of the contract. It had its own page that needed signing and I didn't sign it. I did sign the rest. This was never questioned. Would this make it void or not?

Thank you

That was a brilliant post Marie which basically solves the OP query - OP you may refer then to this if they ever raise the point

Thank you at @mariefab that is useful to know.
It did seem strange to me that they can't stop you working somewhere else when you work there but can stop you when you leave.

Also if you did not sign the separate piece of paper and your contract did not specifically refer to this covenant, you should be fine in any case
A lot of people saying this, but most companies have a load of policies which you have to comply with, but they don't have to get you to sign to say you will - just that they told you they existed; is this really different? Surely if they can show that she saw that page when she OP joined, it became part of her conditions of employment?

@RaindropsOnKittens43
I'm not sure they could prove that. I sent back the contract without that page in it. I didn't just not sign it.
I didn't realise until after. I'm not sure I ever received it. But comparing to others contracts.

Raindrop not sure where the line is drawn exactly but for sure the employee book cannot contain post employment obligations - that needs to be agreed explicitly between parties. Also the employee book itself also needs technically formal acknowledgement from the employee to be enforced.

@Rookiemummy2018
It was in the contract itself.

@RaindropsOnKittens43

You are quite right about the policies.
Also employers can announce changes or new terms and if their employees do nothing or refuse to sign agreement they will usually be deemed to have accepted the new terms by their conduct. i.e. continuing to work there.

But this is different.
Because the OP was on a zero hours contract and because of the statutory effect of ERA1996 s.27A(3).
The Restrictive Covenant would still be unenforceable even if the OP had signed her agreement to it.

It did seem strange to me that they can't stop you working somewhere else when you work there but can stop you when you leave.

There's often a clause in contracts of employment stating the employee must let the employer know if they take on other work, so they are aware - it is meant to stop employees from diverting effort away from their core business, avoid conflicts of interest etc. Possibly it isn't the case for you if you are zero hours, depends what your contract says. It's very standard in the case of ft and pt workers

What have other employees there who have left done?

Some other people have gone self employed yes. They aren't as close though and don't worry like I do lol.
They are still well within the 10 miles though.

@daisychain01
Yeah with 0 hours they aren't allowed to stop you taking on work elsewhere at the same time as they aren't guaranteeing hours.

@BakesBeans47
I saw how knowledgable you were on another thread. Wondered if you could help at all
(Sorry cheeky I know!)

No typo!
@BakedBeans47