The UK Government announces proposals to limit the duration of non-compete clauses in employment contracts to three months

In a policy paper on “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy”, the UK government has announced proposals to limit the duration of non-compete clauses in employment contracts to three months. This proposal reflects the growing concern worldwide concerning the use of non-competes. Earlier this year, the FTC in the US took even more extreme action than the UK, by publishing a proposal to ban non-compete clauses completely. What is the approach to non-competes in the UK? There are currently no statutory restrictions on non-compete provisions in the UK. Under case law, non-competes will only be enforceable if they are no wider than reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate interest (e.g. protection of confidential information or customer contacts) and are not contrary to the public