- Answer
- The contract tries to. Clause 21 bars you from working for a competitor within 25 miles for 12 months after you leave.
- Why
- A restriction like this is only enforceable if it goes no further than is reasonably necessary to protect the employer's legitimate business interests. Whether this one does is a legal question.
- Source clause
For 12 months after your employment ends, you will not work for a competing business within 25 miles of any Company office.
Clause 21.2 · view in contract →- Also check
- Clause 20 (confidentiality) has no end date, and it applies whatever happens to clause 21.
- What to check next
- Before you accept a new job, it can help to have a solicitor look at whether this clause is likely to hold for your role.
The law changed on 1 October.
It changes again on 1 January.
Are you
employed right?
Having a job is easy. Knowing whether you're being treated right is harder. Let's find out.
Check my contract or letterUpload it and see exactly what it says, clause by clause.Work out where I standTell us what's happening and see the rights and deadlines that apply.
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§ContractIn writing✓
£PayOn time✓
☼HolidayNeeds review!
◷NoticeUnclear?
✚Sick payNot in contract✕
Why now
The law is changing.
Your rights are changing with it.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is coming in stage by stage. Since 1 October you have six months to bring most tribunal claims, not three. From 1 January 2027, protection from unfair dismissal starts after six months in a job, not two years, and the cap on compensation goes.
—days until
1 January 2027
1 January 2027
In force
Sick pay and paternity leave from day one
Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first day off, with no lower earnings limit. Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave no longer need any length of service. The maximum protective award for failing to consult on collective redundancies doubled to 180 days’ pay.
Read the guide →In force
Six months to bring a tribunal claim, not three
For most claims, where the dismissal or the thing complained of happened on or after 1 October 2026, you now have six months less a day. If it happened before 1 October, the old three-month limit still applies.
Read the guide →Planned
“All reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment
Employers already have to take reasonable steps. The government’s timeline has this becoming all reasonable steps, with a new duty covering harassment by customers and other third parties.
Read the guide →Law, from this date
Unfair dismissal after six months, and no cap on compensation
The qualifying period drops from two years to six months, and the cap on the compensatory award is removed. It applies wherever employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, including people dismissed before then whose notice runs past it.
Read the guide →Planned
Fire and rehire restricted
New protections against being dismissed for refusing a change to your contract, and against being replaced on worse terms, are in the government’s timeline for January 2027.
Read the guide →
Being let go right now? The 1 January rules depend on the day your employment ends, not the day you were told. If your notice runs past 1 January 2027, the new rules apply to you.
Check my datesHow it works
Three jobs. No legalese.
- 01Understand
Upload your contract, settlement agreement or a letter from work, and get the legal wording translated into what it gives you, what it asks of you, and the dates that matter.
- 02Check
Ask "what if?" before something happens, and see the exact clause the answer comes from.
- 03Stand
Tell us what's going on at work, and see which rights apply and which clocks are already running.
01 Understand
Upload a contract.
See what it really says.
EmployedRight reads your contract, offer letter or settlement agreement and explains it in plain English. In about a minute, not an evening with a highlighter.
PDF This demo uses a sample employment contract. Upload your own to see what it says.
Contract summaryReady when you are
Clause 9.1 "You are entitled to 28 days' paid holiday in each holiday year, inclusive of bank and public holidays."
Clause 18.1 "Either party may end your employment by giving one month's written notice." The law sets a minimum of one week per complete year of service, up to 12 weeks, so after five years the legal minimum is longer than a month.
Clause 12.3 "You will receive Statutory Sick Pay only." There's no company sick pay on top in this contract.
Clause 18.4 "The Company may, at its discretion, pay you in lieu of all or part of your notice period."
Clause 21.2 "For 12 months after your employment ends, you will not work for a competing business within 25 miles of any Company office."
Clause 14.2 "If you leave within 24 months of completing funded training, you agree to repay the course fees on a sliding scale."
You're employed.
But read clause 21.
02 Check
Ask your
contract.
Clear, evidence-based answers to real questions about your job. No legalese. No guesswork. No fluffy "it depends" without telling you what it depends on.
Try these:
03 Stand
Know where you
stand. Today.
Not "which area of employment law is this?" Most people don't know, and they shouldn't have to. Tell us what's happening and how long you've worked there, and the picture builds as you go.
1 What's happening at work?
2 How long have you worked there?
Where you stand
General information about the law in Great Britain, based on what you picked. Not advice. Open the full version →
Our promise
Don't just sign it.
Know what you're signing.
Allowed to say "that's normal"
Most contracts are routine. A probation period, a confidentiality clause, a month's notice: if a clause is common, we'll say so rather than alarm you. Even if it means you don't need a solicitor at all.
Evidence on every answer
- Answer
- Why
- Source clause
- Also check
- What next
If we can't point to the wording, we say it's unclear rather than guess.
Information, not a sales funnel
EmployedRight explains what your documents say and how the law works. When you want advice on your own situation, that comes from a solicitor at MML Law, and we'll tell you when that's happening.
The worst time to read your contract
is the day you need it.
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Check my contract firstWant a second pair of eyes?
Talk it through with
a solicitor.
We explain; we don't advise. If you'd like a solicitor to look at your contract or your situation, we can pass your details to MML Law, a Scottish law firm based in Dundee. Nothing is passed on unless you ask, and you decide whether to go ahead.