I have a contract question. I resigned from my casual

Question

Hello, I have a contract question.
I resigned from my casual employment yesterday in the beauty industry.
I received an email today with restraint periods See below:RESTRAINT
During the Restraint Period after termination of employment, you must not
anywhere in the
Restraint Area:
engage or prepare to engage (directly or indirectly) in a business that competes
with the
Employer;
solicit, canvass, approach or accept any approach from a Client with a view to
obtaining the
custom of that person in a business that is the same or similar to the Employer;
interfere with the relationship between the Employer and its Clients, employees
or suppliers;
or
induce or assist in the inducement of any employee of the Client or the Employer
to leave
In this provision:
Client means any person, firm or company who at any time during the period of 12
months
prior to the termination of your employment was a Client of the Employer in
respect of
the part or parts of the business in which you were employed;
Restraint Period means:
(i) six months; or
(ii) three months.
Restraint Area means:
(i) 15 kilometres from the location listed in Item 6; or
(ii) 30 kilometres from the location listed in Item 6.
You separately enter into each of the covenants resulting from combining
separately each
business or activity above with each geographical Restraint Area and combining
each
such combination with each Restraint Period.
Each of the above obligations are separate and independent obligations. In the
event that
one or more of the obligations are found to be unenforceable, the remaining
obligations
will continue to apply.
You acknowledge that each of the restrictions above is in the circumstances
reasonable and
necessary to protect the Employer’s legitimate interest.You acknowledge that you
will be liable in damages (including punitive or special damages) arising out of
the breach of any of the covenants of this agreement. If required our Solicitor
has been instructed to further investigate any breechHowever, in my casual
contract agreement I signed at the beginning of employment it doesn’t mention
any of this?So my questions is, am I not allowed to work in the beauty industry
for 12months and if I need to follow the above written from the employer even
though it wasn’t in my contract?Thank youP.s the photo attached if copy of my
contract regarding termination.

John Melis · Accepted Answer

Hi, I’m John, solicitor, and reviewing your post, and may need to ask a few
questions a long the way to assist you.

On the facts you have provided the restraint is both broad and narrow, and in
some parts you will be restricted with the action you can take, while with other
aspects you are ok to act upon.

When considering whether to enforce a restraint of trade clause, the courts will
weigh up a number of competing interests including: the employer’s interests in
protecting its confidential information, customer connections and other
legitimate business interests; the employee’s ability to earn a living using his
or her skills, experience and know-how; and the public interest in freedom of
trade and competition.

The general rule is that all restraint clauses are void as against public policy
unless it can be shown that: the clause protects a legitimate interest of the
employer; the clause is reasonable to protect that interest; and enforcement of
the clause would not be contrary to the public interest.

A court will not enforce a restraint clause that attempts merely to stifle
competition from former employees — the employer must be able to identify a
specific business interest which reasonably requires the protection of a
restraint clause.

Interests that can legitimately be protected under a restraint clause include:
confidential information (ie where an employee has had access to confidential
information during their employment and may be able to use that knowledge to the
detriment of the employer once the employment ends) client/customer connections
and details (ie where an employee has had personal dealings with
clients/customers and the employee represents the business to the customer or is
the ”human face” of the business, and there is a risk that the employee may
solicit or entice those clients/customers to move their business from the old
employer to the new employer); and the maintenance of a stable, trained
workforce (ie the courts may enforce a restraint clause to prevent a former
employee from poaching key members of staff).

If satisfied that the employer has a legitimate interest to protect, the courts
will consider whether the restraint clause is reasonable in its scope. A
restraint must go no further than what is reasonably necessary to protect the
identified interest of the employer.

Thank you for reaching out today.

You have a legal right to protect your interests in this important situation.

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I have a contract question. I resigned from my casual

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