Before signing a non-solicitation agreement, a future employee can insert a provision that exempts the clients he had prior to joining the company. It is also best to keep records of these excluded clients. It is legal to mention in the advertising where the employee formerly worked as well. Share this post. Share on facebook. Share on twitter.
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Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. What are my rights and options? Even without an employment contract, the law imposes certain duties on employees during the course of an employment relationship.
For example, employees owe a duty of good faith and fidelity to employers, which requires employees to act honestly and faithfully during the course of their employment.
The duty of fidelity also includes an implied duty to not compete against the employer or to assist a competitor. However, employees are generally only bound by these duties while they remain employed. For example, departing fiduciary employees are expected to refrain from soliciting the business of their former employer for a reasonable period of time after they leave their former job.
Since the departing employee was not bound by an employment contract or a non-solicitation agreement , what your rights and options are depends on who the employee was, the nature of their role within your organization, and when and how the departing employee obtained the business of your former clients. It is a good idea to contact an employment lawyer because you may be able to bring an action in court to recover your losses as one of your options.
However, as you had no contract with the employee restricting them from soliciting your clients, your rights are based on common law principles. The restrictions on activities of employees depend upon whether the activities occurred while the employee was still employed, or postemployment.
All employees have a duty of good faith, which precludes them from directing clients away from your business, while still in your employment. Hi there. You have identified a tricky area of law and the answer is not black and white. On the one hand, an employee owes their employer particular duties while they remain employed.
This means an employee cannot use or disclose information that they have acquired through their employment if doing so would cause detriment to the employer.
For example, using customer details for your own personal advantage while still employed would be a breach of your legal duties as an employee, even if you did not sign a written agreement with your employer. However, once an employee has terminated their employment, they are generally allowed to use the knowledge and skill they have acquired during their employment for their own benefit, unless their employment contract prohibits them from doing so.
That said, there is a fine line between information you have genuinely gained over the course of your employment, and going to the trouble of copying or recording customer information before you quit your job with the intention of using it to generate your own business.
Your former employer may decide to commence legal proceedings against you if they believe you have breached a term of your employment which may have been an implied term or part of an oral agreement, rather than a written contract , or otherwise breached your duty as an employee. It sounds like you are in a difficult position where the legal answer is not clear. You would benefit from speaking to a lawyer who can help you understand your legal rights and how best to enforce or protect them.
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