Legal Effects of the Employee’s Non-Compliance with a Non-Compete Clause

Unlike its very limited scope in Moroccan practice, the non-compete clause is becoming increasingly important today, with the aim of protecting the company from any threat likely to undermine it. Thus, once the employment contract has lawfully come to an end, the employee regains full freedom and may, in particular, enter the service of a new company carrying out a similar activity. The non-compete clause introduces a significant restriction on this fundamental principle of freedom to work. In the company’s obvious interest—and in light of the technical know-how, trade secrets, or customer relationships that the employee is likely to acquire during the course of the employment relationship—the worker undertakes, upon hiring, not to work for a competing company or to set up a competing business on their own account after leaving. In the absence of any express legislative provision on the matter, it is necessary to refer to case law, which is fairly nuanced given the very different factual situations brought before the courts and the need to reconcile the company’s legitimate interest with the employee’s need to secure employment.