It’s the final Asia EPI e-bulletin of the year, and what a year it has been! Our Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives update this month covers: the recent Court of Appeal judgment in Singapore, which considers what amounts to confidential information and what a business must show to claim damages for a breach; the changes … Read more

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has opened a consultation exercise into the use of non-compete provisions, and potentially other forms of restrictive covenants, by employers in contracts with their staff, including workers and other forms of atypical arrangements. This is the second time in the last few years that the Government has … Read more

The recent case of AB Club Ltd & Anors v Chan Yin Ki Cubie & Anors [2020] HKCFI 2769 reinforces the need for speed when seeking to enforce post-employment covenants. Any undue delay, even if only a matter of weeks, may mean a Court refuses to grant an interim injunction. Background The plaintiffs are a group of … Read more

On 5 October 2020, Indonesia’s Parliament passed the Omnibus Law (2020 Job Creation Law), introducing significant amendments in a range of areas, including Indonesia’s laws on investment, employment, immigration, environmental standards, business licensing and building permits. The law is now awaiting the signature of the President. If the President fails to sign the law within … Read more

A recent EAT decision highlights that employers should consider expressly stating that a confidentiality clause in a COT3 or settlement agreement is a condition and/or requiring the repayment of an appropriate amount in the event of breach, particularly if confidentiality is of key importance to the employer. In Duchy Farm Kennels v Steels, the High … Read more

The High Court has enforced a six month notice/garden leave period and a six month post-termination non-compete covenant against a senior broker, rejecting his claims that the employer had committed various repudiatory breaches releasing him from those provisions. The broker alleged that instances of unacceptable behaviour, a failure to deal with his complaints about these, … Read more

In Allen v Dodd & Co, the Court of Appeal has ruled that an employer is not liable for inducing a breach of contract where it receives (and believes) legal advice that it is “more probable than not” that a restrictive covenant is unenforceable. This is so even if the employer believes that there is … Read more

Employers wishing to ensure employees keep salary information confidential should ensure that it is included expressly within a contractual confidentiality obligation.  Disciplinary policies should also make clear that external (or internal, if appropriate) disclosure without the employer’s permission is misconduct. The EAT in Jagex Ltd v McCambridge confirmed that a duty to keep pay information … Read more