Burnham to clamp down on ‘unfair’ non-compete clauses

Andy Burnham is expected to launch a crackdown on lengthy notice periods and non-compete clauses in employment contracts in a bid to free up the jobs market for highly skilled workers. In a speech later today, the Prime Minister will announce plans to tackle a proliferation of strict employment conditions, which force staff to give as much as 18 months notice before leaving and prevent them from joining or setting up a competitor. Non-compete clauses have become particularly common in the highly competitive tech and finance sectors, where employers are fearful of former staff using intellectual property to their advantage at an industry rival. But the strict legal hurdles have also been a blight for fast-growing tech companies, which have sounded the alarm over their inability to take on talent at the pace and rate they need to grow. Often finance and ‘big tech’ companies will make employees agree to notice periods as long as 18 months, meaning they are economically inact