Employment contracts and service agreements
Carefully drafted contracts and executive service agreements are the foundation of any employer/employee relationship. They protect your business and let your staff know what is expected of them in their roles. At senior levels, a poorly written contract can leave a business exposed to unfair competition and commercial risk.
Our employment solicitors and HR consultants will work with you to ensure your contracts and service agreements protect your business and support your objectives. We can prepare these documents for you or enhance your existing documentation to ensure they meet your legal requirements.
How we can support your business
Employment contracts
If you require a bespoke or complex contract, legal advice is essential; we can provide all the guidance your business needs. We have specific expertise in sport management and player contracts. Our solicitors can also support your organisation if you have a number of contracts to amend (known as ‘harmonisation’) following a business sale or acquisition.
Restrictive covenants
A restrictive covenant is a clause in a contract that protects your business in the event that a member of staff leaves. Typically, they apply to senior staff and prevent unfair competition. For example, a long serving manager may join a competitor and try to take staff, customers and business leads to their new employer. Restrictive covenants are designed to prevent this.
Drafting the scope of the clause correctly is vital as courts will not enforce an unfair or inappropriate provision. Our employment solicitors can draft bespoke restrictive covenants to meet the specific requirements of your business, protecting your key customers, suppliers and staff.
Injunctions
When it comes to enforcing restrictive covenants, time is of the essence. Our experienced solicitors are highly responsive. This is essential for injunctions to protect your business and to enforce your contractual entitlements, where delay could be extremely costly and the commercial damage difficult to remedy.
Contractor and consultancy agreements
A comprehensive and accurate consultancy or contractor agreement is essential if you are engaging consultants to work with your business. Without one, you may spend valuable time and money resolving tax and employment law problems down the line. We can help you ensure that your agreements cover all bases; our tax solicitors also have significant expertise in advising businesses on meeting their IR35 obligations and corporate tax liabilities.
Recommendations
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Contact an employment solicitor
If you would like to learn more about how we can support your business, please contact a member of our Employment & HR team below or call 0800 652 8025.
Clarke Willmott has offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton. We provide employment law and HR advice to businesses in the UK and internationally.
