VIC Employment Law - Is This a Non-solicitation Situation?

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tkm

Member
11 March 2017
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Does employment law non-solicitation apply in this situation?

I have known someone for many years and we work together for a few weeks at a company. However, we both resigned as we hated it. My friend has now started their own company... can that friend hire me? Or is it still prohibited due to the non-solicitation clause in our contracts?
 

Lance

Well-Known Member
31 October 2015
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2,394
Hi,
It really depends on the exact wording in the contract. Non Solicitation can be clients or staff. That said I'd be surprised if it held up in this case, It would be difficult to prove you didn't plan to leave together to start a firm, even if one started the firm and the other became an employee. Unless your friend did a Jerry Maguire. If you can put the non solicitation text from your contract up, someone might be able to give you a clear interpretation.
 

tkm

Member
11 March 2017
2
0
1
Hi,
It really depends on the exact wording in the contract. Non Solicitation can be clients or staff. That said I'd be surprised if it held up in this case, It would be difficult to prove you didn't plan to leave together to start a firm, even if one started the firm and the other became an employee. Unless your friend did a Jerry Maguire. If you can put the non solicitation text from your contract up, someone might be able to give you a clear interpretation.

Thanks Lance,
It's just got standard clauses about not being able to hire away staff but as I'm not a staff member any longer I don't know if they apply to me.... the reason that I think they might is because there is a section that states an employee for this purpose is limited to an employee who was an employee at the time that you were an employee.
The problem is that I think the former employer does think that we planned this which is not the case.
 

Serge Gorval

Well-Known Member
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
2 November 2015
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Sydney
lawtap.com
Solicitation generally applies to current staff/employees and are notoriously hard to enforce. Considering that neither you or your mate is working with the company, I would be hard-pressed to bring a legitimate claim on behalf of the former employer