Employee Non-Solicitation (Non-Poaching) Clause template

Use

This employee non-solicitation clause helps employers protect workforce stability following the departure of an employee.

It restricts former employees from recruiting, encouraging, or facilitating the departure of colleagues, contractors, and consultants with whom they had significant business contact.

The clause includes a general recruitment advertisement exception and is designed to protect legitimate business interests while remaining reasonable and enforceable under UK employment law.

• The Employee Non-Solicitation (Non-Poaching) Clause template should be actioned / delivered as soon as reasonably practical.

• It is sent / delivered by an employer / HR team to an employee.

Timing

Follow these best practice actions to get the most from the Employee Non-Solicitation (Non-Poaching) Clause template, guiding you before, during, and after implementation:

Step-by-step action table for managing employee non-solicitation obligations

Example

At Sterling Precision Manufacturing Ltd, a Production Manager resigned to join a competitor after eight years with the business. During his notice period, concerns were raised that he had approached several skilled engineers about joining him at his new employer.

Fortunately, the manager's contract contained a 12-month non-solicitation clause covering employees and contractors with whom he had worked closely during the previous year. Following legal advice, the company reminded the departing employee of his obligations and monitored recruitment activity.

No further approaches were made, and the company avoided the potential loss of multiple key employees. The clause helped preserve operational stability, prevented disruption to production schedules, protected customer delivery commitments, and avoided significant recruitment and training costs that could have exceeded £50,000 had several experienced engineers left simultaneously.