Restrictions on returning to past employer

micmclo

Registered User
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I worked for Company A for almost 4 years. Huge company with over two thousand staff. A decision was made to sell our department of about 200 people to company B

We did a consultation period and we recieved P45's from company A and new contracts from Company B. Our length of service and our terms and conditions were protected under TUPE. All above board and fine so far.

Six months later and Company B is doing badly. We are small so no opportunities to train and progress and we lost a huge client.

I wanted to return to Company A. I applied online and was offered an interview and it's an exciting opportunity. However HR suddenly cancelled my application and said Company A & B signed a contract banning rehiring for 18 months. I never remember this being discussed and was very surprised.

I am not a high flying executive, my job role is administrator.

Is this legal? Can I be barred from a massive company with lots of opportunities because of a contract restriction? I accept this might common for executives but I'm not at this level.
 
I have come across such restrictions in contracts in the past:
(1) As a consultant working on a client site, the contract between client and consulting company forbids the client from hiring consulting staff.
(2) When accepting redundancy packages from Employer A, unable to return to full time work with this Employer for at least 12 months

18 months seems a little long, but it does sound plausible on the basis that Company B paid Company A for your customer base and the skill sets, experience and industry knowledge of the TUPE staff. If Company A can just hire back those staff, Company B are losing that.
 
Is this legal? Can I be barred from a massive company with lots of opportunities because of a contract restriction? I accept this might common for executives but I'm not at this level.
It's pretty common I think. I'm a programmer in a firm that does contract work for other businesses.
The contract which [my employer] offers potential customers forbids them from poaching [my employer]'s staff for x months/years after the contract ceases.
My previous employer was a department of a big multinational which offered similar services. Same deal.

Without this clause, [my employer] would bleed staff to it's former customers, who would hire them to support projects/products which they helped to build. It would also weaken [my employer]'s hand when it came to negotiating support contracts.
 
a restriction like this is the norm when TUPE applies and it's to protect the new employer from losing experienced staff back to the old employer. I have seen longer then 18 months.
 
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