By the time the contract arrives you’ve usually accepted the job in your head, so it’s tempting to sign it on the day. Most of it will be standard. A few clauses are worth reading slowly, because they decide what happens when you want to leave, when the employer wants to change your role, or when money comes out of your pay. It’s easier to raise them now than after you’ve started.
Restrictive covenants that go too far
Restrictive covenants limit what you can do after you leave. The usual ones are a non-compete (you can’t work for a competitor), a non-solicitation clause (you can’t approach the employer’s clients or poach its staff) and a non-dealing clause (you can’t do business with its clients at all, even if they come to you).
These are restraints of trade, so they’re unenforceable unless the employer can show they protect a legitimate business interest, such as confidential information or client relationships, and go no further than reasonably necessary. That’s judged against your role when you signed, not a fixed rule. A 12-month UK-wide non-compete for a junior salesperson would be hard to justify; a six-month restriction on dealing with clients you actually looked after is much more likely to hold. Watch for no geographic limit, periods that look long for your seniority, and a definition of “competitor” that covers most of your sector.
Long notice periods and garden leave
A garden leave clause lets the employer keep you at home on full pay during your notice period. You’re still employed, so you can’t start the new job. Garden leave isn’t a problem in itself; the issue is how it combines with notice and covenants. Six months’ notice on garden leave followed by a six-month non-compete could keep you out of the market for a year. Ask for any garden leave to be deducted from the covenant periods, which is a common and reasonable request.
Probation terms
Probation is usually three or six months. It’s a contractual arrangement, normally with shorter notice and a review at the end, and it doesn’t by itself take away statutory rights. Protection from ordinary unfair dismissal depends on length of service: currently two years, due to fall to six months from January 2027 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Protection from discrimination, and from automatically unfair dismissal such as for whistleblowing, applies from day one.
Check the length (over six months is unusual), whether the employer can extend it (ask for one extension of a fixed length at most) and which benefits are held back until it ends.
Vague job descriptions and flexibility clauses
Your written statement must include a job title or brief description of the work, and many contracts add “such other duties as the employer may reasonably require”. That on its own is normal. The trouble comes when it’s paired with broad rights to change your hours, place of work or role at the employer’s discretion. Courts read these clauses narrowly, but you’d rather not have to argue about it. Ask for a clear role description and look for any clause letting the employer vary the contract on notice.
Deduction clauses
Some contracts let the employer deduct money from your wages for training costs if you leave early, unreturned equipment or losses you cause. Part II of the Employment Rights Act 1996 controls this. A deduction is only lawful if it’s required by statute (tax and National Insurance, for instance), authorised by a written contract term you were given or told about beforehand, or agreed by you in writing in advance. Overpaid wages can be recovered, and retail workers have an extra cap on deductions for cash shortages and stock losses.
Deductions for things that benefit the employer, such as uniforms or tools, also can’t take your pay below the national minimum wage. Push back on a clause covering “any sums owed”; ask for specific items only, and a sliding scale for training costs.
Intellectual property over-reach
By law, copyright in work you create in the course of your employment belongs to your employer, and inventions made in your normal duties generally do too. Work done on your own time, outside your duties, is yours unless the contract says otherwise, and some contracts do, claiming anything you create during the employment. The Patents Act 1977 limits how far a contract can do that for inventions, but a broad copyright assignment can work. If you build things outside work, ask for the clause to be limited to work in the course of your employment, and list existing side projects as excluded.
Notice period imbalance
After a month’s employment, the employer must give at least one week’s notice, rising to one week per complete year of service after two years, up to 12 weeks. You must give at least one week. Contracts can give more but not less. Three months from you against the statutory minimum from the employer leaves you tied in while they can let you go quickly, so asking for matching periods is reasonable.
What to do if you spot red flags
Raise them before you sign. Employers expect some discussion on covenants, probation, notice and deductions. Pick the two or three points that matter most and suggest specific wording rather than just objecting.
If you’re not sure which clauses are genuinely a problem, our employment contract review explains each clause in plain English, flags the ones that look one-sided and suggests what to ask for. It costs £49 + VAT, and you get a free first look before you pay.
Related: what the employment contract review covers, and a complete sample report.