Hi all:
An agency has just offered me a contract that includes a restriction clause preventing going direct for 12 months after the contract ends. As I understand it, regulation 10 limits such a restriction to 8 weeks after the last working day. I have not explicitly opted out from the agency regulations, it has never been discussed with agent. Am I correct in assuming that the contract clause is then invalid and regulation 10 applies instead?
Harry
2 Restriction on going direct: Regulation 10 limits the ability of an agency to validly restrict by contractual terms a contractor and a client making direct arrangements for future services which exclude the agency. Agencies typically impose restrictions which (if valid – and they are not always valid) would operate so as to prevent such direct dealings for periods of up to 12 months (sometimes even longer). Common law principles (clarity and certainty, and restraint of trade) govern the enforceability of such terms. Now, such terms will also have to satisfy the provisions of the new regulations in order to be enforceable, and where the regulations apply, the maximum effective period during which a restriction can prevent direct dealings will be the longer of 14 weeks after the first working day, and 8 weeks after the last working day.
An agency has just offered me a contract that includes a restriction clause preventing going direct for 12 months after the contract ends. As I understand it, regulation 10 limits such a restriction to 8 weeks after the last working day. I have not explicitly opted out from the agency regulations, it has never been discussed with agent. Am I correct in assuming that the contract clause is then invalid and regulation 10 applies instead?
Harry
2 Restriction on going direct: Regulation 10 limits the ability of an agency to validly restrict by contractual terms a contractor and a client making direct arrangements for future services which exclude the agency. Agencies typically impose restrictions which (if valid – and they are not always valid) would operate so as to prevent such direct dealings for periods of up to 12 months (sometimes even longer). Common law principles (clarity and certainty, and restraint of trade) govern the enforceability of such terms. Now, such terms will also have to satisfy the provisions of the new regulations in order to be enforceable, and where the regulations apply, the maximum effective period during which a restriction can prevent direct dealings will be the longer of 14 weeks after the first working day, and 8 weeks after the last working day.
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