Legal Issues with Contacting Old Customers

MEM62

YouAsked wrote: »

Tell him to check his contract. Some have restrictive covenants in specifically to that effect, but they would include a defined period too. If they're sending him a letter to sign after he's left employment then it sounds as if they've realised too late that there was no such restrictive covenant in his contract and I'd ignore it. It sounds like he won't need a reference from them to secure his new job either as he's already started.

Not quite correct. Any terms and conditions contained in a contract of employment cease to be in force once the employment is terminated. If there is a restrictive covenant in place this would have to be a separate agreement.

sangie595

MEM62 wrote: »

Not quite correct. Any terms and conditions contained in a contract of employment cease to be in force once the employment is terminated. If there is a restrictive covenant in place this would have to be a separate agreement.

Not correct either! If terms and conditions in a contract of employment ceased immediately upon termination, employees would not be entitled to any pay outstanding! Terms in a contract - any contact- remain in force as long as they remain in force in law. If you have signed a contract containing a restrictive covenant it remains in force for the duration you have agreed; of course that does not mean it is enforceable in law, and ultimately a court would have to decide that.

Undervalued

MEM62 wrote: »

Unless he signed an agreement separate to his contract of employment to this effect (and the fact that his old employer is writing to him suggests that he hasn't) they cannot enforce any terms and conditions once his employment has ended. He has absolutely no obligation to enter into the agreement that his ex-employer is requesting and, of course, if he does he is then restricting his future activities. I would write back, tell them that you have no intention to enter into this agreement and that, if they think they have a case for legal action, bring it on!

Sorry but that is not correct.

It is perfectly possible to have restrictive covenant detailing what you cannot do after leaving as part of an employment contract. It does not have to be a separate document. Furthermore it does not actually need to be signed in order to be valid. By working there and getting paid he has indicated his acceptance of the contract.

That is not to say this particular covenant is enforceable. It may be or it may not be if it is too restrictive. As I said earlier that needs specialist legal advice.

I agree he should not sign or otherwise indicate acceptance of the document that has now been sent to him by the solicitor's without proper professional advice. It may be a try on because the former employer feels they did not adequately cover themselves.

Tripledrop

Thanks for all your responses...

My friend has now obtained a solicitor (£500 to initially read the letters and contract!). He has sent a holding message saying he is taking legal advice.

Someone asked about why they targeted him... Basically he obtained a list of care providers from the CQC website, and sent out generic emails to them all. One of them was a customer of our old company, and decided he would tell them!

sangie595

Tripledrop wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses...

My friend has now obtained a solicitor (£500 to initially read the letters and contract!). He has sent a holding message saying he is taking legal advice.

Someone asked about why they targeted him... Basically he obtained a list of care providers from the CQC website, and sent out generic emails to them all. One of them was a customer of our old company, and decided he would tell them!

Regardless of the opinion on whether it is enforceable or not, I do feel I should point out that your attempts to say that that companies are not the former employers clients if their details are obtained from another source are disingenuous, and I am sure you are smart enough to know that. If they are clients of the former employer, they are still clients of the former employer, even if you have obtained their address from the phone book!

agrinnall

sangie595 wrote: »

If they are clients of the former employer, they are still clients of the former employer, even if you have obtained their address from the phone book!

Agreed. And I think you will have a hard time convincing anyone that you weren't aware that they were clients.

SeanG79

Hindsight now, but really when sending out those mailers your colleague should have excluded prospects he knew to be existing customers of the previous employer for a reasonable amount of time (say 6 months). As should you, unless you have already made contact with such customers, in which case you can expect a similar letter yourself.

MEM62

@sangie595
Pay and benefits are due for the time that you are engaged by the company. Because your contract ceases to exist once employment is terminated doesn't mean that you employer does not need to pay you. That pay was accrued during your contracted period. As for ' Terms in a contract - any contact- remain in force as long as they remain in force in law'. Once you resign or your employer terminates your employment the contract ceases to exist and no conditions contained within it can be enforced after your termination date.

@Undervalued
I must disagree with you also. Because the contract ends when employment ceases any such covenant must be contained in a separate agreement.

This is a sensitive issue in my industry and I have dealt with these specific issues on a number of occasions. Turn up at court with a contract of employment to deal with any post-employment matters and the judge will not even take a look at it as it is not longer in force. It will only be considered in relation to events that occurred during the period of employment.

sangie595

MEM62 wrote: »

@sangie595
Pay and benefits are due for the time that you are engaged by the company. Because your contract ceases to exist once employment is terminated doesn't mean that you employer does not need to pay you. That pay was accrued during your contracted period. As for ' Terms in a contract - any contact- remain in force as long as they remain in force in law'. Once you resign or your employer terminates your employment the contract ceases to exist and no conditions contained within it can be enforced after your termination date.

@Undervalued
I must disagree with you also. Because the contract ends when employment ceases any such covenant must be contained in a separate agreement.

This is a sensitive issue in my industry and I have dealt with these specific issues on a number of occasions. Turn up at court with a contract of employment to deal with any post-employment matters and the judge will not even take a look at it as it is not longer in force. It will only be considered in relation to events that occurred during the period of employment.

Sorry. I am not going to enter into a protected argument with you, but I have turned up in many a court on exactly such matters and no judge has ever refused to deal with them. Your advice is incorrect on this matter. Restrictive covenants are very frequently contained within contacts of employment and they are valid. Whether they are enforceable is a very different matter. In your industry you may do things as you like, but the law accepts that a covenant exists if it is in an agreed contract.

YouAsked

Agree Sangie ^^^^

Also speaking from personal experience.