What is a non-compete clause?
A non-compete clause is a term in an employment contract that restricts an employee, after leaving, from carrying out activities similar to those performed for the former employer. Its purpose is to protect commercial and industrial knowledge the employee acquired on the job.
Belgian law is unusually demanding about it, which is why so many clauses in circulation do not actually work.
What makes a non-compete clause valid in Belgium?
Several conditions, and they are cumulative. The clause has to be in writing. It has to be limited to activities similar to those the employee actually performed. It has to be limited geographically to places where the employee could genuinely compete, and it cannot reach beyond Belgium. It has to be limited in time. The employer has to pay a lump-sum compensation of at least half the gross remuneration corresponding to the period the clause covers. And it only applies above an annual salary threshold, with an intermediate band in which the clause is valid only if a collective agreement designates the functions concerned.
Fail any single one of these and the whole clause falls, as the SPF Emploi guidance on non-compete clauses confirms. One detail is easy to miss: the salary condition is assessed at the moment the contract ends, not when you signed it, and the thresholds are indexed annually.
How is a non-compete clause different from a confidentiality clause?
They protect different things and behave differently. A non-compete restricts what you may do, costs the employer a payment, and is bounded in time and space. A confidentiality clause restricts what you may disclose, requires no compensation, and can continue indefinitely.
Confusing the two is common because they usually sit next to each other in a contract. In practice the confidentiality clause is far more likely to bind you than the non-compete beside it.
What happens when the contract ends?
The employer has fifteen days from the end of the contract to waive the clause. If it waives, no compensation is due and you are free to compete, subject only to the ordinary rules on unfair competition. If it does not, the restriction applies and so does the payment.
Before signing, the practical question is what the clause would actually prevent you from doing next, and whether the activity it describes matches what you really do. If you work through a consultancy across changing client projects, that question is worth asking early. Sparagus employs consultants on that basis across the roles currently open, and notice period is the other clause to read closely.
