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Want to go self employed but current company has ways of limiting my clients...

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello people, I have a brain numbing situation...

I am currently employed full time (hurrah!) and have been with my current place for 1 year (in the industry for 10+ years) but would like to go self employed within my field (no, I'm not a cow) but I have a stumbling block that will limit my available work if I do...

The company I work for sub contracts for other companies. Now, I understand that it can be standard practice to limit an employee or ex-employee from working for a rival company for a period of time (I worked for SSE many years ago and if you left then you couldn't work for any other energy companies, i.e British Gas for 6 months) but apparently my company has a clause in contract with at least 1 company, maybe more, which prevents any current or ex-employee from ever doing work for said company.

So if I were to leave and spread my own wings then I wouldn't be able to do sub contact work for said company, which would initially (maybe longish term) be a large source of my income while I establish myself and other clients.

I have no written contract to speak of with my current company and was not aware of the agreement preventing me from ever working with the contractor until very recently (today)...

What are my options? Could I get around this agreement somehow?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A vague recollection of mine is that such things are unenforceable. Check with someone who knows company law.
  • 'Alexandra''Alexandra' Deactivated Posts: 50 Boards Initiate
    That's a tricky situation AvusBlue!

    As Mist mentioned I would recommend asking someone who is well versed in company law to take a look at your contract.

    How did you find out about this clause - did your manager or a colleague tell you about it? Could also be worth exploring any company handbooks or websites to see if this clause is mentioned elsewhere and if it generalizes to all employees?

    I wish you the best of luck in trying to sort this out!!
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