Employment contract - is this bankruptcy clause retrospective?

bankrubber

I was sent a job offer and employment contract with a fairly standard bankruptcy clause.

Can any of you advise me if this clause covers a situation where the employee is bankrupt before signing the contract, or if it only applies to going bankrupt after the employment contact is signed?

"[FONT=&quot]If the Employee commits a serious or persistent breach of or shall neglect to perform their duties under this Agreement or brings himself, the Company, its directors or employees into disrepute or shall have committed an act of bankruptcy or compounded with their creditors generally the Company may by written notice terminate this Agreement forthwith."

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]If it is a grey area, I am sure the best thing is to advise them of BR, or intention of going BR before signing it. Would you ask them to omit the clause or just confirm in writing that they are ok (or not) with the BR?
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Ineedaname

Regardless of the context, the key word is in the last sentence in that they may terminate your contract. I would be up front and have a chat with HR before signing. Another member did this recently and all was fine as a result of their honesty.

Obviously I can't say if it will be the same for you, but honesty really is best.

JCS1

BR woud not show on a CRB report though.

alastairq

CRB checks cannot be conducted without the person concerned being aware.

I suspect awareness of an employee's financial troubles allows the employer to ensure that undue stress isn't likely to affect an employee's performance.

[or, susceptibility to outside financial pressure??}


Bankruptcy isn't really a financial problem...it is a solution.

and it really is about time it is seen as such by society in general.

StuieUK34

When someone doesnt understand Bancrupcy, and then watches Kerry Katona on telly driving in a BMW X5 and living in a big pad, they might think things are odd!

fooked

How has Kerry pulled that off then?

alastairq

Then if employers see personal financial control as being all-important, they should also view divorce, for example, as an indicator of moral responsibility.

But they don't.

An overridingly important influence that seems to be ignored regarding BR is, the [successful] effect of advertising pressure by the financial institutions, consumer and other businesses, and indeed, successive governments.


If the above view is taken regarding personal financial responsibility, then that view must also claim that commercial pressurisation of potential customers must not be allowed to work, or be taken heed of.


Which we all know flies in the face of the understanding of the effectiveness of advertising and salesmanship.


Financial product selling works...and works well....or why the trillions of dollars, pounds, etc spent on it?

Governments even encourage it, as without the credit system, economies would falter and crash.

We, Joe Public, are seen as targets...markets...for the credit industry....

If that industry thought for one moment we would all exercise 'free will', they wouldn't spend the sums they do on advertising, and productivity bonuses, for their marketing and sales personnel.

Our Society as a whole does not want a significant number of individuals to reject the lifestyle Society dictates we must live.

SO spends incredible sums convincing us all that this lifestyle is essential...what we 'need'.

So in many ways.....far from exercising a lack of financial discipline, most BR's are in fact pretty much victims of the world we live in.

'Free will' often has no place when looking at debt.


However, what obviously pees on the financial world's bonfire is, BR demonstrates definite 'free will', in that the individual cries 'enough of this nonsense'......

kepar

redbu wrote: »

That is correct. I was just explaining that a credit check is normal, a CRB check does also happen for which some people may not be aware for certain jobs.

A CRB check is to ensure you are not a criminal, hence Criminal Records Bureau. As you are in the financial sector I hope you have had one.
Bankruptcy is not a criminal offence.


As an ex examiner, now retired,

An ex examiner in what?

So from your posts you are not a bankrupt or ex-bankrupt

alastairq

I had one because I work with personnel [on a provider basis] who may be under the age of 18.

Ineedaname

Rebu - you forgot to acknowledge the many thousands of BRs who have been forced into it through changes in their circumstances beyond their control. The people who do manage their finances responsibly and pay every month, but then, through ill health, loss of job or many other factors, find they are no longer able to maintain repayments. Yes, BR is a last resort, but it is often the only way forward in life too.

The TV programme Superscrimpers recently stopped people in the street to ask them about their credit cards. Many believed they were managing their finances responsibly, making at least the minimum payment on cards every month, if not more. But when told that even if they stopped spending on the card immediately, it would still take them xx years to pay everything off and would cost them xxx hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds in interest, most were shocked at the figures.

At least with a loan or HP you know where you are, exactly how much it will cost you and how long it will take to pay off.

Is it any wonder people get into such trouble with their finances when credit cards are designed to be variable? It is not as much the fault of the individual as you paint the picture, but the fault of the financial industry, the lifestyle we are encouraged to aspire to (as Alistair mentions) and the way the modern world works.

debtinfo

ill try and cut a middle road here.

I think the point redbu was trying to make and one that i do to some extent believe in to is that the majority of bankrupts are in some way responsible for their position. Yes there are some that are totally blameless but most have lived in excess of their income at some point in time. That is why they have the debt in the first place because they have spent their income plus an extra percentage. This build up of debt leaves them vulnverable to changes in their income so even if they were paying everything on time they are still responsible for putting themselves at the edge of the cliff even if something else such as losing job, unexpected event or breakdown of relationship pushes them over the edge.

BUT the really worrying thing is that the Bankrupts are the ones that have fallen over there are many times more people who right now are on that edge just waiting for a life changing event to come along