When a senior executive decides to move on, it’s not just a change in leadership that needs to be considered. It can be a moment of vulnerability for your business. These individuals often hold deep institutional knowledge, strategic influence, and access to sensitive information. So how do you protect your business when a key player exits?
There are three essential tools that a company can use to damage control the situation:
Garden leave: A strategic pause
Garden leave is more than just paid time off. It’s a protective measure that keeps a departing executive out of the office during their notice period—while still under contract.
Why it matters:
- Prevents access to sensitive data during the transition.
- Limits influence over staff and clients.
- Buy time to manage internal communications and client relationships.
It’s a smart way to ensure the executive remains bound by their duties while reducing potential disruption.
Restrictive covenants: Drawing the line
Restrictive covenants are contractual clauses that limit what a former employee can do after leaving. For senior executives, these are crucial.
Common types include:
- Non-compete: Stops them from joining a rival.
- Non-solicitation: Prevents poaching of clients or staff.
- Non-dealing: Blocks them from doing business with your clients, even if approached.
To be enforceable, these clauses must be reasonable—think fair time limits, geographic scope, and relevance to the role. Overly broad restrictions can backfire in Court.
Confidentiality: Keeping secrets safe
Executives often have access to the crown jewels of your business—financials, strategy, client data, and more. Ensuring they don’t walk away with that knowledge is critical.
What you can do:
- Include strong confidentiality clauses that survive termination.
- Conduct exit interviews to reinforce obligations.
- Monitor post-departure activity and act swiftly if breaches occur.
Sometimes, a reminder is all it takes. Other times, legal action may be necessary.
Final thoughts
Executive departures don’t have to be disruptive. With the right legal safeguards and a proactive approach, you can protect your business and maintain continuity.
Whether you’re reviewing contracts or preparing for a transition, now is the time to ensure your protections are up to date.
How can we help?
Ruby Rai is a Senior Associate in our expert Employment Law team, advising on a wide range of employment matters, including TUPE, redundancies, and senior-level exit strategies, drafting policies, procedures, employment contracts and settlement agreements.
If you have any questions about the above subject, please don’t hesitate to contact Ruby or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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