Non-compete clause in an employment contract
Short answer
A ban on competing activity after the end of the employment relationship may be agreed for at most one year and has to be part of the employment contract itself, otherwise it is invalid. The employer pays at least 50 % of the average monthly wage for each month the obligation lasts. It may be agreed only with an employee who had access to information that is not commonly available and whose use could cause the employer substantial harm.
6 statutory citations below · law as at
A non-compete clause limits what an employee may do after leaving the company. The Labour Code allows it, but ties it to conditions that in practice often go unmet, and the clause is then invalid as a whole.
The most common mistake is a simple one: a clause with no financial compensation. Employers copy it from older templates or from abroad, where it need not be paid. In Slovakia it must be.
Four conditions that have to be met at once
The clause has to be part of the employment contract. A separate agreement signed later, or a provision in an internal regulation, will not do; the Act says that otherwise it is invalid.
It may last at most one year from the end of the employment relationship. A longer period is not merely ineffective for the excess part, it goes beyond what the Act allows to be agreed.
The employee must have had the opportunity to acquire information or knowledge that is not commonly available and whose use could cause the employer substantial harm. The clause cannot be agreed for an ordinary position without access to such information.
Financial compensation of at least 50 % of the employee's average monthly wage for each month the obligation is performed, payable on the pay date for the preceding month.
What if the clause is stricter than it has to be
A court may limit or cancel the obligation if it goes beyond the degree of protection the employer needs. What is assessed is the scope of the activities, the territory and the duration.
That means a clause drafted too broadly need not fall in its entirety, but the employer cannot rely on a court narrowing it to exactly where it would suit them.
How the obligation ends
The employer may withdraw from the clause, but only while the employment relationship lasts. Once it has ended the employer no longer has that option and has to pay the compensation.
The employee may terminate the clause by notice if the employer has not paid the compensation within 15 days of its due date. The obligation ends on the day the notice is delivered.
Both the withdrawal and the notice have to be in writing, otherwise they are invalid.
Contractual penalty for a breach
One may be agreed, but its amount may not exceed the total compensation the employer undertook to pay. A penalty of ten times the wage, which occasionally appears in templates, is therefore not permissible.
If the employee performed the obligation in part, the penalty is reduced proportionately. Paying the penalty extinguishes the obligation, so the employee literally buys their way out of the clause.
Competing activity during employment
That is a different matter and is dealt with by § 83. Alongside their employment an employee may carry out competing gainful activity only with the employer's prior written consent.
If the employer does not respond within 15 days of the request, consent is deemed to have been given. Consent is not required for scientific, teaching, journalistic, tutoring, lecturing, literary and artistic activity.
What the statute says word for word
The wording comes from the same verified corpus of statutes the Paragrafo advisor runs on. Every link opens Slov-Lex, the official register, so you can compare it yourself.
Zamestnávateľ a zamestnanec sa môžu v pracovnej zmluve dohodnúť, že zamestnanec po skončení pracovného pomeru nebude po určitú dobu, najdlhšie jeden rok, vykonávať zárobkovú činnosť, ktorá má k predmetu činnosti zamestnávateľa konkurenčný charakter.Zamestnávateľ môže so zamestnancom dohodnúť obmedzenie zárobkovej činnosti po skončení pracovného pomeru, iba ak zamestnanec v priebehu trvania pracovného pomeru má možnosť nadobudnúť informácie alebo znalosti, ktoré nie sú bežne dostupné a ich využitie by mohlo privodiť zamestnávateľovi podstatnú ujmu.Zamestnávateľ poskytne zamestnancovi primeranú peňažnú náhradu najmenej v sume 50 % priemerného mesačného zárobku zamestnanca za každý mesiac plnenia záväzku podľa odseku 1.Zamestnanec môže záväzok podľa odseku 1 vypovedať, ak mu zamestnávateľ nevyplatil peňažnú náhradu do 15 dní od uplynutia jej splatnosti; záväzok zaniká dňom, v ktorom bola výpoveď doručená druhej zmluvnej strane.Záväzok podľa odsekov 1, 4 a 5 musí byť súčasťou pracovnej zmluvy, inak je neplatný.Zamestnanec môže popri svojom zamestnaní vykonávanom v pracovnom pomere vykonávať inú zárobkovú činnosť, ktorá má k predmetu činnosti zamestnávateľa konkurenčný charakter, len s predchádzajúcim písomným súhlasom zamestnávateľa.Common misconceptions
A clause with no financial compensation
The most common mistake. Without agreed compensation of at least 50 % of the average monthly wage the clause is invalid, and the employee is therefore bound by nothing. It gets copied from foreign templates, where it need not be paid.
A clause signed only on departure
The obligation has to be part of the employment contract. An agreement signed when the employment relationship ends, or an addendum outside the contract, does not meet the statutory condition.
A clause for every employee
It may be agreed only with someone who had the opportunity to acquire information that is not commonly available and whose use could cause substantial harm. Inserting it into all contracts across the board does not meet the condition.
A contractual penalty with no cap
The penalty may not exceed the total compensation the employer pays. An agreement on a higher amount is ineffective for the excess part, and the employee moreover buys their way out of the obligation by paying it.
The employer wants to withdraw from the clause after the employee has left
Withdrawal is possible only while the employment relationship lasts. Once it has ended the employer no longer has that option and has to pay the compensation for the whole agreed time.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a non-compete clause last?
At most one year from the end of the employment relationship. The Act does not allow a longer period to be agreed.
How much does the employer have to pay?
At least 50 % of the employee's average monthly wage for each month the obligation lasts. The compensation is payable on the pay date for the preceding month unless the parties agreed otherwise.
Is the clause valid if it is only in an addendum to the contract?
The Act requires the obligation to be part of the employment contract, otherwise it is invalid. An addendum is an amendment to the employment contract, so what decides is whether the clause was actually incorporated into the contract by it; a separate agreement outside the contract does not meet the condition.
May I run a business in the same field alongside my job?
Only with the employer's prior written consent. If the employer does not respond within 15 days of receiving the request, consent is deemed to have been given. Consent is not required for scientific, teaching, journalistic, tutoring, lecturing, literary and artistic activity.
Documents this affects
Have a more specific question?
The Paragrafo advisor answers from the wording of Slovak statutes and names the provision each answer rests on.
Ask the advisor