Shareholders Agreement

[simon67]

Hi,

I work in a company with a Shareholders Agreement. This aggreement contains a clause resticting who I can work for after leaving the company - the clause is valid for 6 months.

Basically I want to know if this clause is legal or not.

Some additional information:

1. I would be forced to sell my shares (by the Shareholders Agreement) if I left the company. Does the Shareholders Agreement lapse when I cease to be a shareholder? There appears to be no post termination clause in the agreement that applies to this.

2. Not all shareholders are also employees. This means that this particular clause only applies to about 50% of the shareholders. Is it acceptable to have this sort of unfairness in the contract? Some shareholders can do what they wish, others are effectively stopped from working. The shareholders holdings vary quite alot, mine is less than 5% - would I be able to claim this was unfair to me as a small shareholder?

3. I have a similar 6 month clause in my employment contract. Is this also legal\enforceable.

Thanks.

Simon