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Non-Solicitation Agreements Articles
Anything goes in employment contracts
Unfortunately for employees, the law provides few safeguards regarding what can and cannot be agreed to as a term of employment. As well, with the recent shift downwards in unemployment rates, employers have had to adapt, minimizing the risks of hiring transitory employees by proposing contracts loaded with language to protect them at every opportunity. Employees should beware of the following six most dangerous terms, now appearing in more employment contracts – and court dockets...[read more]
Be careful when working for a competitor
Nothing infuriates a company more than news of an ex-employee soliciting away its most prized assets: the clients. But clients, much like those employees, are not sedentary. Seldom are they attracted to one company or another exclusively by virtue of the services they are offered. Rather, their loyalty often lies with the relationships that are built and the key employees who have built them. ...[read more]
Beware of employment contracts
It's possibly the worst fraud in workplace law - corporations, with expensive lawyers and deeper pockets, insisting that employees sign one-sided contracts that reduce their legal rights. And employees, without bargaining power or an understanding of the law, not realizing their interests have been undermined....[read more]
Careful before you try to take clients with you
Having made the decision to jump to a competing investment firm, broker Ed Darling* thought he would take a few clients with him. But when Darling got slapped with a bill for nearly $20,000, he wished he had just stayed put. Darling was a highly successful broker for the St. Albert, AB investment firm Edward Jones. After building up a client base, he felt he'd find greener pastures by starting up his own office with a competing firm. ...[read more]
Contracts at the workplace
Do contracts really matter or are they irrelevant? In the often confusing world of workplace law, why are some agreements upheld, when many others are simply overlooked? The answer depends on the purpose that the contract is meant to serve. ...[read more]
Drafting employment contracts
Employers often take a kitchen sink approach to drafting employment contracts. They bargain for excessive protection, no matter how junior or administrative the employee. However, in seeking such protection, they sometimes get none at all. ...[read more]
Employees can be sued for wrongful resignation
Employees and employers make all types of wrong assumptions about the law. Seldom do their "perceived" rights exist. Often they rely on rules that have long been rejected by the courts and legal doctrines that are now invalid. Sometimes they are just steered wrong by their lawyers.
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Employment contracts are negotiable - courts will imply terms
Employees routinely sign contracts replete with unfavourable terms: contracts can give employers the right to eliminate employees with minimum notice, banish them to far away jurisdictions, slash salaries or demote - with impunity, prevent competition following their departure, and break promises or representations at their pleasure. ...[read more]
Employment Contracts Should be Reviewed
It never ceases to amaze me how just a little bit of foresight can go a very long way. Employees often bemoan the fact that they have little understanding of the employment contracts they are asked to sign. Such contracts are usually inundated with legal phraseology. But entice a soon-to-be employee with prospects of job security and many people will just sign their name unaware of the consequences that may arise down the road. ...[read more]
Ideas not always straight from source
Do you retain ownership of an invention or a great idea that you’ve thought of or created while at work? Usually, ownership of a workplace invention isn't in dispute. For instance, when an employee is hired to create a new business strategy for his/her employer, the new and great idea that comes about then belongs to the employer — for its own use and profit. However, difficulties can arise when, during the course of employment, an employee creates something of value that he/she wants to then use to turn a profit outside of the job....[read more]
Law permits competition
Thinking of jumping ship to the competition? Or are you dreaming of developing a rival firm? You'd better think twice before taking your clients with you....[read more]
Senior managers may owe a duty of fidelity
All employees owe a duty of fidelity to their employers, but those in senior management positions may owe even more. ...[read more]
Taking Clients from a past employer
Thinking of jumping ship to the competition? You better think twice before taking your clients with you. Nothing infuriates a company more than news of an ex-employee soliciting away its most prized assets: the clients. But clients, much like those employees, are not sedentary. Seldom are they attracted to one company or another exclusively by virtue of the services they are offered. Rather, their affiliation lies with the relationships that are built and the key employees who have built them. ...[read more]
Taking Clients from a past employer
Thinking of jumping ship to the competition? You better think twice before taking your clients with you. Nothing infuriates a company more than news of an ex-employee soliciting away its most prized assets: the clients. But clients, much like those employees, are not sedentary. Seldom are they attracted to one company or another exclusively by virtue of the services they are offered. Rather, their affiliation lies with the relationships that are built and the key employees who have built them. ...[read more]
Think Twice Before Taking Clients from your ex employer
Employment is a two-way street. Just as they can be dismissed without notice, employees are not "owned." They are always free to leave. However, disputes often arise when they try to take their clients with them. Since clients' affiliations often lie with the relationships that are built and the key employees who have built them, courts permit employers to protect their clients through contractual limits on post-employment competition and solicitation. But what happens when there is no contract at all? ...[read more]
Workplace Law's biggest misconceptions
This is as true at work as it is in life, except that in workplace law there is always an exception. Here is a sampling of some of the questions readers of this column frequently ask and the answers I often provide....[read more]
Workplace Law's misconceptions
Poor performance may be cause for dismissal....[read more]
Workplace policies
Many disputes are rooted in, and later resolved on the basis of, policy. Or at least they should be. This applies in law as much as it does in life: our courts do not always decide employment cases based on what is reasonable or just, but rather, on what makes for the best workplace policy....[read more]