Wrongful Dismissal?

enfield1988

Hi All,


I have been working part time with an employer since November 2013. In July 2014 I opened up my own company in the same industry. My employers got wind and have suspended me and have invited me to a meeting which will no doubt end with them dismissing me.


I have read the contract and nothing in there states I can not open up my own company the same industry whilst working for them.


I understand I can not go for unfair dismissal as I am under 2 years, but can I go for wrongful dismissal?

skintpaul

Depends on terms of your initial contract- can you afford to lose one of the jobs?

Need to make it clear not poaching clients!

enfield1988

No I can't, the business is still very small hence me still working for the employer. What do you mean by terms of initial contract? The contract I signed doesn't have a non competing clause or even a section which states I can not work for them while running my own business.

Majestic12

They can dismiss you for almost any reason (if not a protected charateristic). You can even be dismissed if the boss didn't like your hair colour

No point fighting about it, concentrate on your own business

tomtontom

Is your business in competition with your employer, directly or indirectly? If so this could be deemed a breach of mutual trust and confidence, which is an implied term in an employment relationship.

I can't see anything that would amount to wrongful dismissal.

Aquamania

enfield1988 wrote: »

Hi All,


I have been working part time with an employer since November 2013. In July 2014 I opened up my own company in the same industry. My employers got wind and have suspended me and have invited me to a meeting which will no doubt end with them dismissing me.


I have read the contract and nothing in there states I can not open up my own company the same industry whilst working for them.


I understand I can not go for unfair dismissal as I am under 2 years, but can I go for wrongful dismissal?

Don't you think there is a potential conflict of interest here?

Presumably you do and that is why you failed to disclose this to your employer, leaving them to uncover it for themselves, and now you fear you will be dismissed as a result.

:cool:

stevemLS

Non-compete clauses generally come into play when you have left an employer.

As well as the trust and confidence terms tomtomtom mentioned, you also have a fiduciary duty to your employer which is difficult to see how it could be reconciled with setting up in competition.

Reggie_Rebel

Your current employer only has to suspect you have been abusing your position with them to cite gross misconduct.

antrobus

enfield1988 wrote: »

....I understand I can not go for unfair dismissal as I am under 2 years, but can I go for wrongful dismissal?

Of course you can. It's a free country.

stevemLS wrote: »

...As well as the trust and confidence terms tomtomtom mentioned, you also have a fiduciary duty to your employer which is difficult to see how it could be reconciled with setting up in competition.

I don't believe that to be true. See Ranson v Customer Systems plc, ordinary employees don't owe their employer a fiduciary duty.

http://www.steeleslaw.co.uk/news/employee-competing-with-employer

Which is good news for the OP, as it means, in the absence of any relevant express terms in their contract, they are unlikely to be sued by their (former) employer.

However I'm not that convinced that a claim for wrongful dismissal by the OP would get very far. In any case, wouldn't the amount of damages be limited to pay accruing during notice? Since we don't yet know what the employer is going to do, they may well hand him a cheque in lieu, before telling him to go away.:)

Undervalued

Wrongful dismissal is, in effect, a breach of contract on the part of the employer.

As other have stated you cannot claim unfair dismissal as you have not been employed long enough (and the limited exceptions do not appear to apply).

However if you were dismissed without notice (which they would only be entitled to do if you were guilt of GROSS misconduct) you might have a wrongful dismissal claim for notice pay arguing that any misconduct was not "gross".

However, based on what you say that would be at best arguable and possibly uneconomic in any case.