legal threat over notice period

Nebulous

hi....

i handed in my notice on the 6th of december which made my last working day the 4th. however i told my new employeer i could start on the 3rd.

then today i had an email from my old employeer threatening legal action if i didnt answer a few questions, these were:

- why i didnt come in on those days
- if i started a new employment before the 5th
- to remove all company files from my computer
- to remove any reference to their company from my website

i know they can take me to a civil court for breach of contract but what realistically can they claim in damages for those two days.

i dont have a problem adhering to their demands except for removing the work i did for the company from my portfolio as it will effect my career going forwards and they were only screenshots of publically accessible websites.

what can i do/ what can i expect if this goes to court over non removal of images.

regarda

dave

drwho2011

Nebulous wrote: »

what can i do/ what can i expect if this goes to court over non removal of images.

This would fall under copyright.

LittleVoice

Nebulous wrote: »

hi....

i handed in my notice on the 6th of december which made my last working day the 4th. however i told my new employeer i could start on the 3rd.

then today i had an email from my old employeer threatening legal action if i didnt answer a few questions, these were:

- why i didnt come in on those days
- if i started a new employment before the 5th
- to remove all company files from my computer
- to remove any reference to their company from my website

i know they can take me to a civil court for breach of contract but what realistically can they claim in damages for those two days.

i dont have a problem adhering to their demands except for removing the work i did for the company from my portfolio as it will effect my career going forwards and they were only screenshots of publically accessible websites.

what can i do/ what can i expect if this goes to court over non removal of images.

regarda

dave

Technically, if you handed in your notice on 6 December your last day would have been 6 January if you had to give one month's notice and 3 January if you had to give four weeks' notice.

Notmyrealname

Nebulous wrote: »

i know they can take me to a civil court for breach of contract but what realistically can they claim in damages for those two days.

i dont have a problem adhering to their demands except for removing the work i did for the company from my portfolio as it will effect my career going forwards and they were only screenshots of publically accessible websites.

what can i do/ what can i expect if this goes to court over non removal of images.

regarda

dave

They can sue you for the cost of staff to cover you plus any loss of business as a direct consequence of your actions.

As regarding the portfolio, if they own the copyright you cannot use it without their permission and as to how much damages they can seek from that......

drwho2011

Notmyrealname wrote: »

They can sue you for the cost of staff to cover you plus any loss of business as a direct consequence of your actions.

As regarding the portfolio, if they own the copyright you cannot use it without their permission and as to how much damages they can seek from that......

It is highly likely they would retain the copyright if they have already compensated the OP through wages.

smartpicture

drwho2011 wrote: »

It is highly likely they would retain the copyright if they have already compensated the OP through wages.

In my experience the company always retains the copyright for work you did whilst in their employment, unless you have a specific contract saying otherwise.

getmore4less

personal webisite - employment

Depends on the reference but most peoples CV and on places like linked in include work profiles

material remove unless it is yours to own.

drwho2011

smartpicture wrote: »

In my experience the company always retains the copyright for work you did whilst in their employment, unless you have a specific contract saying otherwise.

That's what I was eluding to.

hcb42

Just remove it OP, if they carry on with their threat you will only wish you had removed it sooner in the end...not worth the fight.

Uncertain

Notmyrealname wrote: »

They can sue you for the cost of staff to cover you plus any loss of business as a direct consequence of your actions.

Yes.....

However they would need to show that they had taken all reasonable steps to minimise their losses and then deduct what they had saved in the OP's wages from any claim.

In practice this type of claim is rare especially when the alleged losses come almost at the end of the notice period as the firm had several weeks to make alternative arrangements.

Notmyrealname wrote: »

As regarding the portfolio, if they own the copyright you cannot use it without their permission and as to how much damages they can seek from that......

Quite! One answer would be to replace the screen shots with a link to the original site. Hard to see how they could do anything about that!