non competition - garden leave

Hammyman

Uncertain wrote: »

My interpretation would be that this clause would be unenforceable, certainly at the end of the fixed term contract or if the employer terminated sooner.

Otherwise, taken literally, after a year's work for the current firm you would be unable to work in you own field for another six months.

Of course you could. They'd only be unable to work for companies in a 3 mile radius of the company they've just left. Surely they're not the only company in the DWP 30 mile radius travel to work area doing that type of work?

SarEl

Hammyman wrote: »

Of course you could. They'd only be unable to work for companies in a 3 mile radius of the company they've just left. Surely they're not the only company in the DWP 30 mile radius travel to work area doing that type of work?

To be fair - the OP has already said that the DWP have reduced that radius due to her disability. But I doubt they have reduced it to only 3 miles.

Zazen999

Treacle1983 wrote: »

Thing is due to my disability I can only work in my local area - Should I get something from the jobcentre to give my current employer advising of this. As last time I was on job seekers I had to have the usual job hunters agreement changed as I can't travel far! So they will have on record. Current employer is a 5 minutes walk from my house.

Yes, I would get this in writing if you can before the meeting; if you can't get it in time then refresh their memory that this was a condition and try to appeal to their better nature to drop the clause.

Treacle1983

SarEl wrote: »

To be fair - the OP has already said that the DWP have reduced that radius due to her disability. But I doubt they have reduced it to only 3 miles.

10 minute walk or 10 minute by bus/taxi actually.

As can't sit with my knee's bent in the normal seated position for longer than that - and my hips go.

Buses are also really shaky all the time and it's painful to sit in them - most time you can't even sit in the disabled seat as they are taken.

So yes and I can go to the job centre and get a print out if needed - i'm sure that would be kept on file.

SarEl

Treacle1983 wrote: »

10 minute walk or 10 minute by bus/taxi actually.

As can't sit with my knee's bent in the normal seated position for longer than that - and my hips go.

Buses are also really shaky all the time and it's painful to sit in them - most time you can't even sit in the disabled seat as they are taken.

So yes and I can go to the job centre and get a print out if needed - i'm sure that would be kept on file.

Well a taxi would get more than 3 miles in 10 minutes. But please do bear in mind - you agreed to this clause! If you knew all this to start off with you really should have raised it at the beginning and not the end. It really isn't unreasonable for an employer in this sort of business to expect that you don't go off and let all their client list out of the bag to a competitor on their doorstep - that is why the clause exists. It isn't that I am unsympathetic to the situation that you are in - but I also can't see that the employer has been at all unreasonable in their expectations or actions. After all, being disabled does not prevent you from spilling the beans about their entire client list, does it?

I would suggest that instead of focussing on how unreasonable you think they are being, you focus on how you can reach a compromise recognising that they are not being unreasonable. They may be prepared to vary the term or accept a signed agreement banning you from contacting any of their clients or divulging information about their clients. But I have to assume that you are a professional in this field and know that their concerns are vaild - it could potentially damage their business - and in their shoes I think you would be expecting nothing different from employees.

Treacle1983

I'd already asked in my 1st post if that would be acceptable.

I have no problem at all signing something to say I won't contact their clients.

I live right in a city centre - so 10 minutes would be only a few miles. Especially in a bus as it stops all the time to let people on and off.

The only places outside of that radius are about 30-40 minutes by taxi/bus - google exeter city for confirmation - as most call centres/insurance jobs here are on the industrial estates on the outskirts of the city.

To get a job in a different sector would mean a pay cut as i currently have quite a good insurance skill set with certification and specialisation in some areas.

Emmzi

I too think it is enforecable now we have seen the content. You can ask for a variance but you have no right to it, so do be prepared with a) a very specific and reasonable variance to suggest, and b) to be refused.

dmg24

Treacle1983 wrote: »

Just ending a 12 month fixed term contract.

Have received a letter today advising of a meeting on wednesday to discuss the non competition clause in my current contract.

My new employer is in the same area and same industry - there is a non competition clause in my contract stating 6 months and a three mile area of my current workplace.

Therefore if i accept this new job offer it will breach the non competition clause.

Can they enforce this - if it's them bringing my contract to an end - I am only skilled in this area of work and due to my disability would be unable to work outside of the 3 mile radius specified.

If they try to enforce would I be entitled to ask for garden leave for 6 months? Even though I only have 1 month's notice left to work? As they would be preventing me from getting work?

Or can i reasonably request they remove this clause and offer to sign something to say I won't approach any of my current clients?

Please note that this is a seperate issue to recent posts and I only want replies regarding this.

It would appear that Judas was right - you are just trying to take your ex employer for everything they can!

I trust your new employer has a disabled toilet and a disabled rest area?

SarEl

dmg24 wrote: »

It would appear that Judas was right - you are just trying to take your ex employer for everything they can!

I trust your new employer has a disabled toilet and a disabled rest area?

Yes, I am afraid that I had wondered about this earlier, and developments seem to be such that what we have here is a serial claimant. Simply because the OP doesn't like what she is told does not make it wrong. And I am afraid that the timing of all this simply doesn't make a credible story. A day ago she was being called in to a meeting next week to "discuss" her deployment during her notice period, and 24 hours later she is being called in to "discuss" her restrictive covenant. I believe that she knew yesterday what she was really being called in to discuss and attempted to manipulate people here to give her advice / ammunition to use against her employers to get out of a hole that she dug for herself. She has, as I said before, known about this restrictive covenant, because it was in her contract from the beginning. All she has ever done is try to find some loophole to wriggle through to get paid for doing no work, and to be honest is seems little surprise that the employer stopped paying her sick pay - they obviously wised up to her too.

The shame about this is that she has used her disability to gain sympathy and to manipulate - us and the employer. This sort of behaviour reflects poorly on the OP, but even more poorly on other people with disabilities. They may find that her behaviour has given at least one employer pause to think long and hard about employing someone else who has a disability.

teabelly

You signed the contract so knew the clause existed. I think you need to accept that you will just have to do another type of work for 6 months until the covenant expires. Considering the type of disability you have and the amount of adjustment you seem to require then I think a work from home job would be ideal. This way you can just get on with working as your home is obviously more ideally suited to you being in it for lengths of time. This would take off the pressure from an employer having to make adjustments which you seem to be unhappy with.