Help: employment law and non-compete
Discussion
C.A.R. said:
I have received a letter from the solicitors basically asking whether the intended revisions to my undertaking would be acceptable, to which I have replied yes they would. I now await them to put something more formal together for me to sign and return.
Make sure you handwrite in a bit about the refund for your transport home before you send the contract back! 
Seriously though, I an genuinely glad that it seems this situation is working out for you, because it could just have likely been much worse.
The words "restrictive business" don't make much sense to me in the present context. Perhaps the OP means "restricted business". The two employers may have a done a deal that clarifies and perhaps reduces the scope of the restrictive covenant. Without knowing what that deal is (and the OP hasn't told us) I can't comment on whether the deal leaves the OP with no problem or just a modified problem. If the OP is out of the woods, then good for him.
WinstonWolf said:
Very helpful, do you feel better for writing that?
I do.i wanted to kill myself until that point.
The OP didn't take advice on board (repeatedly) but got away with it (it seems).
There will be, unfortunately, a situation that doesn't turn out in his favour.
I am glad he got it sorted but at the same time, part of me wishes it wasn't, because the advice to seek proper, professional legal council was ignored time and time and time again.
His old employer could have made life very difficult.
xjay1337 said:
I do.
i wanted to kill myself until that point.
The OP didn't take advice on board (repeatedly) but got away with it (it seems).
There will be, unfortunately, a situation that doesn't turn out in his favour.
I am glad he got it sorted but at the same time, part of me wishes it wasn't, because the advice to seek proper, professional legal council was ignored time and time and time again.
His old employer could have made life very difficult.
Why on earth would you want to wish that on someone? That's really bitter - this isnt 'how to make an example of someone' unless you're trying to drum up business and you specialise in awkward non competes. They can always be negotiated i wanted to kill myself until that point.
The OP didn't take advice on board (repeatedly) but got away with it (it seems).
There will be, unfortunately, a situation that doesn't turn out in his favour.
I am glad he got it sorted but at the same time, part of me wishes it wasn't, because the advice to seek proper, professional legal council was ignored time and time and time again.
His old employer could have made life very difficult.
OP didnt quite do the right things, but the stars aligned, some people decided they werent as bothered as they could be, and he goes off to another job. I'm happy for him that it's worked out well for everyone.
Breadvan72 said:
The words "restrictive business" don't make much sense to me in the present context. Perhaps the OP means "restricted business". The two employers may have a done a deal that clarifies and perhaps reduces the scope of the restrictive covenant. Without knowing what that deal is (and the OP hasn't told us) I can't comment on whether the deal leaves the OP with no problem or just a modified problem. If the OP is out of the woods, then good for him.
That was kind of my point. This doesn't feel fully closed without the OP understanding the detail of what is, or is not permitted.andy-xr said:
Why on earth would you want to wish that on someone? That's really bitter - this isnt 'how to make an example of someone' unless you're trying to drum up business and you specialise in awkward non competes. They can always be negotiated
OP didnt quite do the right things, but the stars aligned, some people decided they werent as bothered as they could be, and he goes off to another job. I'm happy for him that it's worked out well for everyone.
Sorry, what part of OP didnt quite do the right things, but the stars aligned, some people decided they werent as bothered as they could be, and he goes off to another job. I'm happy for him that it's worked out well for everyone.
"I am glad he got it sorted"
didn't you understand. And I meant it, I do.
My issue, which was not perhaps worded correctly, was that in this thread, and previous thread, the OP decides to take "armchair advice" instead of correct, factual advice. Which makes him an askhole.
There will be a time and a place that the course of action taken does not fall in his favour and will bite him in the bum.
xjay1337 said:
Sorry, what part of
"I am glad he got it sorted"
didn't you understand. And I meant it, I do.
My issue, which was not perhaps worded correctly, was that in this thread, and previous thread, the OP decides to take "armchair advice" instead of correct, factual advice. Which makes him an askhole.
There will be a time and a place that the course of action taken does not fall in his favour and will bite him in the bum.
The bit where you followed with 'and I wish it wasnt' kind of wiped out anything decent you'd said before. "I am glad he got it sorted"
didn't you understand. And I meant it, I do.
My issue, which was not perhaps worded correctly, was that in this thread, and previous thread, the OP decides to take "armchair advice" instead of correct, factual advice. Which makes him an askhole.
There will be a time and a place that the course of action taken does not fall in his favour and will bite him in the bum.
You know how like when men compliment women and say 'horrible tits, but you've got a lovely bum'
Your use of language to try and cover up a snide comment didnt go unnoticed. While people may ask for advice, ramming it down their throat when they're not really under any obligation to take it and then getting pissy with them marks someone out as a bit of a
, and I'm not sure if it's the OP, if you get what I mean. Just be cool
Thanks - I think! - for the support, response and advice along the way. To clarify a few points;
I had the advice of seeking legal advice time and time again. In my position, earning just over 30k with no assets and a family to support, the only savings I had were to the sum of about £1K. To put that into perspective, it costs me around £1100 a month in bills to live where I live, before I've fed myself and the tribe. I do not (contrary to popular PH belief) have a load of monthly subscriptions / outgoings which dominate the rest of my wages!
With that in mind, the prospect of a £300, non-recoverable upfront cost to have an employment lawyer look at my case was somewhat troubling. So my immediate thought process was; what could I hope to achieve by doing that?
I won't get compensation for my losses and I would have lost out an awful lot more in loss of earnings if I'd have put up a fight and waited around for a court date, which I might have won, or had the opposition back down at the final moment, as is so often the case. How much money and time would that have wasted?
The best outcome for me was the ability to start working for this new company as soon as possible. The way of making that happen was to create the situation where both parties could discuss things openly, away from the solicitors chit chat which lasts days waiting for replies from either party.
That's the other side of the story too of course; the new company had a solicitor on board already fighting their (effectively my) case, so why invest in my own lawyer? That opportunity had sadly been and gone by the time I was issued with my first letter.
What I should have done, in hindsight, was that once the old employer had agreed to let me go without serving any form of restrictive covenant I should have got this in writing, rather than taking their word. What happened was clearly a change of heart, which we now know (through another source) was instigated by part of the foreign half of the company, who were investigating the sharp decline in staff and requested that this action be taken. I genuinely feel that my old boss felt worse than I did that day, and I feel that I could forgive the actions he was forced to take as they were clearly not his intentions.
The best part is that I'm back to work and have learned a lot of important "life lessons" if you will.
I had the advice of seeking legal advice time and time again. In my position, earning just over 30k with no assets and a family to support, the only savings I had were to the sum of about £1K. To put that into perspective, it costs me around £1100 a month in bills to live where I live, before I've fed myself and the tribe. I do not (contrary to popular PH belief) have a load of monthly subscriptions / outgoings which dominate the rest of my wages!
With that in mind, the prospect of a £300, non-recoverable upfront cost to have an employment lawyer look at my case was somewhat troubling. So my immediate thought process was; what could I hope to achieve by doing that?
I won't get compensation for my losses and I would have lost out an awful lot more in loss of earnings if I'd have put up a fight and waited around for a court date, which I might have won, or had the opposition back down at the final moment, as is so often the case. How much money and time would that have wasted?
The best outcome for me was the ability to start working for this new company as soon as possible. The way of making that happen was to create the situation where both parties could discuss things openly, away from the solicitors chit chat which lasts days waiting for replies from either party.
That's the other side of the story too of course; the new company had a solicitor on board already fighting their (effectively my) case, so why invest in my own lawyer? That opportunity had sadly been and gone by the time I was issued with my first letter.
What I should have done, in hindsight, was that once the old employer had agreed to let me go without serving any form of restrictive covenant I should have got this in writing, rather than taking their word. What happened was clearly a change of heart, which we now know (through another source) was instigated by part of the foreign half of the company, who were investigating the sharp decline in staff and requested that this action be taken. I genuinely feel that my old boss felt worse than I did that day, and I feel that I could forgive the actions he was forced to take as they were clearly not his intentions.
The best part is that I'm back to work and have learned a lot of important "life lessons" if you will.
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