What if the employee is in breach of non-compete contract with his employer?
Indian law considers the right to earn one’s livelihood as a fundamental right. The law believes that employer-employee contracts mostly favour the employer. As in most, employees have to sign standard employment contracts for getting employment or choose not be employed at all. In lieu of this, the courts consider void any contract that puts partial or absolute restraint on employees from engaging in a lawful trade, business or employment after the term of his employment–even if the new profession requires the employee to perform similar or substantially similar duties. In other words, no employee can be confronted with the situation where he has to either work for the present employer or be forced into idleness. However, if the employee is a key personnel with access to trade secrets, confidential data, IPRs, etc, he could be restrained from or sued for divulging or utilizing any such information in his new employment. But once again, he cannot be prevented from taking up the employm
