My understand of contract law in general, is that an illegal or unenforceable clause does not render the whole contract void, but rather that specific clause is essentially stricken out, as if it did not exist.


So, if an employment contract has a clause which said ‘in order to resign you must kill a man’ that clause would not apply, because it would require illegal behaviour.


Or, in a legal system which had a maximum one month notice period, a clause which required three months notice would not be enforceable. So an employee could still give one month of notice.


And any other conditions of the employment contract (working hours, location, etc.) would still apply.


**My question is, could a company still keep illegal/unenforceable clauses in its contact, knowing full well these are indefensible in court?**


If it matters, let’s suppose the illegality of the clause has been determined before both parties signed.


Jurisdiction: answers from any are welcome, I am especially interested in the U.K. and Germany.



Is a contract allowed to have illegal / unenforceable clauses?