It's much more a tabloid thing. But anyway, Sarah Campbell ... just keeping the 'years at the broadcast journalism coalf
WORDY FUN FOR THE TABLOIDS Why Meghan Markle is a gift for the headline writers
RECRUITMENT REGRETS Employ in haste, regret at leisure
THE WANTED Staff ‘lured’ away by rival company
Your weekly bulletin of wit & wonder in the world of…
Wg Employment Issue 569/September 2017 So now we know. Prince Harry is officially going out with American actress Meghan Markle. They were pictured hand-in-hand at the Invictus Games. There was a shout of ‘On your marks, get set – GO!’ and it wasn’t for the athletes. The journos have been let out of the traps. Meghan will have to be made of pretty tough stuff to withstand all that goes with dating a royal of such high rank. They’re already gone for her over the ripped jeans, judging by Yahoo Style (and who doesn’t judge by Yahoo Style?). But is she prepared for all the pun fun? Because… Markle. It rhymes with SPARKLE – you see? And I’m certainly not the first to suggest that MARKLE SPARKLE is a great headline for when things are going well for the 36-yearold star of Suits. And when things go badly? MARKLE DEBACLE! When she’s eating seafood with Harry at Margate? MARKLE WINKLE! When she’s out jogging with friends… MARKLE IN THE PARK, ALL! When she says something wrong…. A BLACK MARK FOR MARKLE! A photo montage of Meghan now and Lady Di back then…. MARKLE & SPENCER! I could go on, but very soon you’d hate me. Do join in though - send your cheesy puns, on a postcard, to the FACEBOOK page… I do feel a bit sorry for the BBC’s royal correspondents because they’ll probably miss out on all this pun fun. It’s much more a tabloid thing. But anyway, Sarah Campbell, dispatched by the Beeb to cover the hand-in-hand walk of the ‘very much in looooove’ couple has her work cut out just keeping the ‘years at the broadcast journalism coalface for THIS?’ tone out of her voice. Good luck, Meghan. You’re going to need it.
Lightly poached employees In order to prevent unfair competition after employment ends, it is advisable for an employer, where it is possible, to insert a restrictive covenant into the employee’s contract. In the absence of an effective restrictive covenant, an ex-employee may compete with the ex-employer, solicit the former customers of the ex-employer and poach its’ staff. In the recent case of Utilitywise plc v Northern Gas & Power Ltd Ors, Utilitywise plc applied for an interim injunction restraining Northern Gas & Power Ltd from poaching its’ employees following an alleged breach of non-competition clauses in their employment contracts. It is said that at least 75 employees had been approached by NGP, and further evidence was supplied of predatory tactics used to convince Utilitywise employees to quit and take up an NGP post. Utilitywise maintained that NGP had “lured” its’ employees away, encouraging the employees to breach the clauses in their employment contracts.
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Utilitywise had a strong prima facie case that NGP had been involved in unacceptable tactics in order to attract their employees. The question for the court was whether they should do anything to spot the poaching of employees. The problem for Utilitywise’s case was that not all employees had noncompetition clauses in their contracts, and those that did had clauses in different forms. Utilitywise could not say how many employees targeted by NGP had the clauses in their contracts. The uncertainty as to each contract’s terms and conditions made the order sought by Utilitywise unworkable, as it would be a blanket order to a whole class of employees. Further, it was not NGP’s responsibility to police the order, therefore, Utilitywise should have taken enforcement action against individual employees who were looking to breach their contracts. The application for a blanket injunction saved Utilitywise the effort of analysing the contracts of each of the 75 employees individually. The court held that it was unfair that the employees were excluded from the hearing, and the lack of specificity in the order would have also been unfair. Utilitywise should have prepared more rigorously and should only have sought an injunction against those employees who were in breach of the restrictive covenants in the employment contracts.
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The lesson for employers is to ensure a consistent approach when drafting restrictive covenants, and to remember that consistency does not necessarily mean drafting the same restrictive clauses for every employee regardless of their role or position in the company.
WG World: Step awaaaaay from the charmer Hire in haste… repent at leisure. This was one of the key messages at this week’s WG Employment Seminar at the Ageas Bowl – and I’m glad to say that we appear to have scared you all just to the right level with our catalogue of Horror Hiring’s. It seems you agree with us that attitude is everything. While some potential recruits seem to have it all, excessive charm can cover up big problems when it comes to workplace performance. It’s like any blind date – you can’t take it all at face value, even though The One appears to be sitting in front of you with a bottle of Krug and a splendid CV. What we’ve discovered is that a good attitude, in line with the character and ethos your current staff, is way more important than grades or skillsets. Skills can be taught – character is pretty much non-negotiable. Reminds me of that time when we hired a little guy to do overnight shifts for us. I don’t wish to be non PC but he was little – and had a long beard, but then don’t all the hipsters these days? He was amazing at the work and pretty much spun gold for us, here in WG Towers. But then, one day, he upped and demanded my first born. Just like that. ‘Give me your child!’ Oh no, hang on, that was Rumpelstiltskin. Phew! But anyway – it just goes to show that you need to double check your terms and conditions on these things. And never hire a vengeful fairy story character.
Contact the team Sarah Whitemore (Partner) – 02380 717462 Howard Robson (Partner) – 02380 717718 Lisa Joyce (Associate) – 02380 717447 Emma Kemp (Associate) – 02380 717486 Natalie Rawson (Solicitor) – 02380 717403 DISCLAIMER While every effort is made to ensure that the contents of these diaries are up-to-date and accurate, no warranty is given to that effect and Warnergoodman does not assume responsibility for their accuracy and correctness. The diaries are provided free of charge and for information purposes only. Readers are warned that the diaries are no substitute for legal advice given after consideration of all material facts and circumstances by an experienced employment lawyer. Therefore, reliance should not be placed upon the legal points explained in these diaries or the commentary upon them.
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