Regulations That Ban Exclusivity Clauses in Certain Employment Contracts Will Come Into Force in December
The draft regulations in relation to exclusivity clauses in employment contracts are to come into force on 5 December 2022.
Following our previous report, these regulations will be extended to make exclusivity clauses unenforceable in contracts for those employees and workers who do not exceed the lower earnings limit of, currently, £123 per week. This will mean that an employee or a worker who does not earn more than £123 per week, will be able to work for other employers and will not be in breach of contract as a result. The regulations will also set out how the average weekly earnings are to be calculated.
The regulations provide that it will be automatically unfair to dismiss such employees due to a breach of an exclusivity clause and workers will be protected if they are subject to a detriment as a result of breaching an exclusivity clause. Employers should take care when issuing contracts of employment and may need to think, as a result of these extended regulations, about whether it is appropriate to include an exclusivity clause in an employment contract.
