Know your own Employee Rights- Is Non-Compete Clause Forced Onto You Even Valid in Singapore?

I read with amusement on the most recent civil suit case brought upon by Shopee against its ex-senior employee to stop him from working for its Competitor ByteDance using the "Non-compete clause". So far I did not recall seeing any employer succeed in the State Courts of Singapore for such draconian request. Restraint of trade is generally frowned upon by our Judges in Singapore and rarely granted. 

1. How prevalent is non-compete clause in employment contract?

Well, it seems to be rather prevalent and forced especially onto management level staff when they sign the employment contract. Sometimes, even for junior level staff hiring, some HR departments will use a "standard template" which will strangely contain this. Perhaps the principle of these Employers will be to put in as much restriction to protect the company rights even if the clause cannot be uphold in court. Bottom-line is, it gives the company employer a basis to go after and hustle a staff who may join its competitor in future. 

2. So should you be worried if one resign and join one's competitor with such a clause in employment contract?

My personal thoughts to this is that generally, one should not be too worried as restraint of trade is something that our justice system really frowned upon. We are talking about the bread and butter of a human being. The Employer can put it there and craft as much black and white as they want but it is going to take a lot more than this clause to succeed in obtaining an injunction or other legal action that your ex-employer will want to put you through. 

Nevertheless, such clause maybe enforceable in certain circumstances. For example, if your Employer pay you say S$100K in terms of special separation bonus after you resign and clearly highlighted this in one's contract for you to rest at home and shake leg for one year, then the court may lean towards the employer in its enforceability of temporary restrain of trade for a year.

Parting thoughts

Anyway, above are just my personal thoughts. One needs to go to consult a professional law firm to go through your employment contract if one is worried that it may become a potential issue in future or prospective resignation to join a rival company. It is a small price to pay for a legal opinion and ease of mind. The best approach I reckon is to have an amicable discussion with one's current employer on separation issues such that it does not go down the path of a lawsuit which is a lose-lose for all parties.