Is this illegal/unlawful or just immoral?

ubersonic · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:07

Hey, company I work for had a guy leave the other month and it turns out that during his last month with the company while working his notice he was basically sending out quotations to clients as normal then following them up with a second cheaper quotation offering to do the work himself after he left. Some of the jobs he was supposed to be dealing with he didn't even send out a company quotation just his own.

I didn't know you could do that lol, can you? I dunno if it's the type of dodgy stuff that people usually get sued over or just really immoral stuff lol.

John40 · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:08

Unethical but totally legal.

Hades · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:08

It depends on his contract of employment. There is nothing inherently illegal about it. But he could be in breach of contract and therefore could be sued by his former company.

Randomface74 · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:09

There's something in my contract that says I can't poach clients for a time. I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but it should be.

peterwalkley · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:10

EDIT: Beaten to it.

ubersonic · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:16

Cool, I always figured there would be a law or something to stop you stealing work from your own employer and getting paid to do it. I shall have to see how this pans out, fingers crossed if there is a flaw in the company rules or something they neglect to fix it

Ayahuasca · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:20

What a guy

touch · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:23

billysielu said:
There's something in my contract that says I can't poach clients for a time. I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but it should be.

Same. I thought this was a standard thing to include in a contract?

If he was doing it before he left the company then it might also be covered under the IT policy and something about using company systems to conduct private business.

McGray · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:51

I've had a court summons after accidentally breaching a non-compete clause in an outgoing contract.

Lots of fun that was.

GravyMonster · 4 Dec 2017 at 16:59

Unless your employment contract was written by Kermit the frog, then I'm pretty sure he's in breach of contract and liable to legal action.

Rroff · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:06

Hades said:
It depends on his contract of employment. There is nothing inherently illegal about it. But he could be in breach of contract and therefore could be sued by his former company.

This. Although its a legal minefield and far from straightforward.

Largely its unethical but depending on the conduct of the company I wouldn't blame some people for doing it. Without other factors though its pretty immoral.

Greebo · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:08

Rroff said:
This. Although its a legal minefield and far from straightforward.

Largely its unethical but depending on the conduct of the company I wouldn't blame some people for doing it. Without other factors though its pretty immoral.

This. Its one if the hardest things to pin on an ex employee no matter how good your contract is. WHich is why most companies just use it as a scare tactic and go as far as a solicitors letter and thats about it.

dowie · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:12

as above it is probably breaching his employment contract

I guess if he's claimed to have done something (like update some internal system to say he sent out the quotations) when he hasn't actually done so and has actually sent out those offers on behalf of himself then perhaps there is some sort of fraud issue there too which could lead to criminal prosecution

stockhausen · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:14

Data protection breach?

Pawnless Endgame · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:32

There is probably another side to the story on why the guy left e.g. bullying / harassment. And then what he did during the final month was his way of getting his own back?

AHarvey · 4 Dec 2017 at 17:51

To do this once you've left the business is risky, to do it while still employed by them and instead of their own quotes is purely stupid.

He'll be getting a nice civil case brought against him where they try and claim for loss of earnings based on his actions.

Deleted member 77746 · 4 Dec 2017 at 18:03

What he should have done is to compile a contact list then contacted them after he left lol. Big mistake poaching in works time.

FoxEye · 4 Dec 2017 at 18:24

I thought I remembered a news story recently where most non-compete clauses were unenforceable? Obvs what this guy was doing whilst still being employed is probably a different kettle of fish.

But if your non-compete stops you from working in your chosen profession for any length of time it's unenforceable.

http://www.lindermyers.co.uk/are-restrictive-covenants-enforceable/

Q: Are restrictive covenants enforceable?
In general, if you rely on a one size fits all policy when drafting restrictive covenants, it risks them being unenforceable.

Certain restrictive covenants will be enforceable, if you are able to prove that they are:

reasonable
necessary to protect legitimate business interests; and
of a duration no longer than is necessary to protect those interests

However, they cannot be used as a restraint of trade. If you try to deny an employee the right to make a living in their chosen industry or profession, this will be taken seriously by the court. For example, an employment contract that imposes a blanket ban on a person working for a direct competitor, even for a short period of time, is unlikely to be enforced.

Rroff · 4 Dec 2017 at 18:30

The reasonable clause is where often businesses come undone - they often push for all encompassing measures and courts generally tend to rule on the side of unequivocal specifics when it comes to employment stuff.

Uther · 4 Dec 2017 at 18:40

That's the way to do it.

Is this illegal/unlawful or just immoral?

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