LegalAI[Space]

Employment · Employment partner, HR director, in-house counsel

Rebuild garden leave and covenant terms after a resignation

A sales director at Thackeray Media has resigned to join a competitor and the contract has both garden leave and a twelve-month non-dealing covenant. The run answers what can be enforced now and what should be rewritten for the eleven people who remain.

Start freeBook a walkthrough
Agents
Research, Employment
First draft
An enforceability read within a minute in chat, then rebuilt clauses for the remaining team the same day.

The problem

The immediate question is whether to hold the departing director on garden leave, and that turns on whether the clause exists, whether pay and benefits continue, and whether the period is set off against the covenants. The longer question is why the same contract is in use across the whole sales team, when parts of it would not survive a hearing.

  1. Step 01 of 05

    Add the contract and the resignation letter

    The employment contract, the resignation letter, the commission plan and the team's standard contract are uploaded to one matter.

    Matters · Project Halcyon · SPA warranties and disclosureOpen

    Project Halcyon: SPA warranties and disclosure

    Buy-side warranty review, disclosure analysis and cited due-diligence grid.

    Client
    Halcyon Bidco Ltd
    Reference
    WC-2026-0412
    Practice area
    Corporate / M&A
    Jurisdiction
    England and Wales
    Responsible partner
    E. Vance
    No conflict check on file.

    Chat, on this matter

    Compare warranties with the disclosure letter.

    Three high-priority exceptions require action: the unregistered charge, the change-of-control right and the tribunal claim.

    Send a message… (@ to mention tools)BalancedPrepare for
    1. 25 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Chat

    2. 21 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Run · completed · 560 credits

    3. 18 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Disclosure Letter

      Document · indexed

    4. 16 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Share Purchase Agreement

      Document · indexed

    5. 4 Aug

      Matter opened

      Opened

  2. Step 02 of 05

    Ask the enforcement question

    Whether garden leave can be imposed on this wording, whether the period sets off against the covenants, and what the realistic prospects are on the non-dealing clause.

    Matters · 14 Rowan Court, Flat 9 · ResearchSources ranked
    Matter: 14 Rowan CourtEngland and WalesResearch Agent
     
    Prepare for: Court-Ready · Deliver as: Word

    Where we looked

    • 1Your documentsLease, demand, correspondence
    • 2Primary law3 statutes, 1 judgment
    • 3Regulators and the recordNothing needed
    • 4Web searchOff for this question

    Authorities · 4

    • 1

      Law of Property Act 1925, s 146

      c 20
      not yet checked
    • 2

      Housing Act 1996, s 81

      c 52
      not yet checked
    • 3

      Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, s 168

      c 15
      not yet checked
    • 4

      Escalus Properties Ltd v Robinson

      [1996] QB 231 (CA)
      not yet checked

  3. Step 03 of 05

    Read the treatment signals

    The Citator shows how the leading authority has been treated, so the partner can see whether the line relied on is good law before repeating it to the board.

    Authorities · 14 · Where we looked
    #ReferenceVerdict
    1

    Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd

    [2019] UKSC 32    		not yet checked
    2

    Working Time Regulations 1998

    SI 1998/1833, regs 4 to 5, 10 to 14    		not yet checked
    3

    Coppage v Safety Net Security Ltd

    [2013] EWCA Civ 1176    		not yet checked
    4

    UK GDPR, Articles 6 and 9

    Retained Regulation (EU) 2016/679    		not yet checked
    5

    Employment Rights Act 1996, s 1

    c 18    		not yet checked
    6

    Harlow v Artemis International

    [2008] EWHC 1126 (QB)    		not yet checked

  4. Step 04 of 05

    Rebuild for the team

    The Employment Agent runs with Prepare for: Standard, producing narrower covenants for the remaining team with the protectable interest stated for each one.

    Agents · Contract Agent · New runMatter: Northgate · senior associate hire

    Agent

    Jurisdiction

    Prepare for

    Deliver as

    Instruction

    What should the agent look for?

    Documents

    Drop a contract, or pick one from the matter

    Also on the matter

    • Offer_letter_v3.pdf2 pages
    • Staff_handbook_2025.docx61 pages
    • Board_minute_14_Aug.pdf3 pages
    Platform model · zero data retention · audit register on

  5. Step 05 of 05

    Sign off both halves

    The partner confirms the immediate advice on the departing director and the rollout plan for the new clauses, including that consideration is needed to vary existing contracts.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted

    • Replace the UK/Ireland/EU non-compete with a 3 to 6 month restriction tied to competing corporate-law work.

    • Replace blanket data consent with a lawful-basis clause and a separate monitoring notice.

    • Remove the five-day carry-over cap and reference the statutory carry-over rules.

    • Narrow the client non-solicit to clients dealt with in the final 12 months.

    • Add an explicit working-time opt-out withdrawal mechanism.

    • Confirm the bonus clause states the discretion is exercised in good faith.

What comes back

A document, not a transcript.

  • A view on whether garden leave can be imposed on this contract wording, with the set-off position stated.
  • An assessment of the non-dealing covenant expressed as a prospect rather than a conclusion.
  • Rebuilt covenants for the remaining team, each with the interest it protects written next to it.
  • A rollout note covering the consideration needed to vary contracts that are already in force.

Authorities it checks

  • Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32
  • Employment Rights Act 1996, s 1
Every source it may cite

What it does not do

  • It does not send a letter to the competitor or to the departing employee.
  • It does not apply for an injunction or assess the balance of convenience for one; that is counsel's work.
  • It does not vary the existing contracts, and it flags that agreement and consideration are needed to do so.

Related

Run this on your own document

Free plan, two seats, no card.
Start freeBook a 20-minute walkthrough