Formal conditions
On pain of nullity, a non-competition clause must be recorded in writing.
Substantive conditions
A non-competition clause must satisfy the following conditions:
- at the time of signature of the non-competition clause, the employee must be of full age; and
- the gross annual salary paid to the employee at the time of his departure from the undertaking must exceed the sum of € 65,991.97, index basis 968.04.
A non-competition clause shall be deemed unwritten where, at the time of signature of the agreement, the employee is a minor or where the annual gross wage or salary paid to him at the time of his departure from the undertaking does not exceed € 65,991.97, index basis 968.04.
Where the above two conditions are satisfied, a non-competition clause will be effective only subject to the following conditions:
- it must relate to a specific occupational sector and to activities similar to those carried on by the employer;
- it may not specify a period exceeding 12 months starting on the day on which the employment contract ended;
- it must be geographically limited to the localities where the employee is able to effectively compete against the employer, having regard to the nature of the undertaking and its geographical range of operations; in no case may it extend beyond national territory.
A non-competition clause shall be inapplicable where the employer has terminated the employment contract with immediate effect in the absence of serious grounds or without observing the period of notice.