[Question] Restraint of trade

[Landy123]

Hi everyone , i am currently in a situation where i have been with a company for 12 yrs which includes me being a member for 4 yrs, i am now faced with an uncertain furture as i have been unfairly dismissed ( pending a CCMA hering soon), i have signed a restraint of trade which states that i cant work in a similar field of business or in the republic of S.A. for a period of 3 yrs, i started with this company straight out of school and dont have any further educational skills or know how as i left school in grade 10 and joined this company. Is just legally fair as i have to earn a living and the only thing i know in my field of knowledge will be going against my restraint.

[Martinco]

Welcome to the forum !!!!!

I stand to be corrected but a few years back a friend of mine had the same situation and the outcome of the court was that you cannot with-hold a person the oportunity to earn a living if that profession/job is the only one that the person is able to do/trained for and therefore the restraint was unreasonable.
Sounds as though you fall within these parameters !

[Landy123]

Hi Martin

thanks for the feedback, much appreciated

[AmithS]

As I understand it as Martinco said, if its the only skill you have, no one can stop you from making a living.

This info I have from my father who is a HR executive at a large corporate.

But dont take our words for it as the law can be funny sometimes

[Justloadit]

If you are a member of the company for 4 years, how can they fire you? You have to resign of your own free will firstly, and secondly they can not force you to resign as a member

You must have some amount of shares, which is in itself has a value for cash, which when being sold back to the CC would have an opportunity to over ride your agreement.

There was a recent thread on this here and here