[tracey]

i have been running a cleaning company for three years now, and have just been burnt very badly.
i recenty employed two people one a local school mum katie bird and the other her friend paul schofield everything referances etc, were fine i took paul on a self employed baisis and things seemed fine he then gave me notice to quit very quickly.
and then that was it letters bombarded in of custmers saying they were fininshing etc, a day later i learned that  paul had took it upon himself to start a cleaning company pinching my customers, and the ones he did'nt want causing chaos by not turnng up and doing a rubbish job.
The thing is none of the customers complained at the time so i could'nt rectify the problems that he and she had caused.
It is just amazing how some people can be charmed by these people!, belive me he had lots of charm and im just sending a word of warning  to all those looking to employ staff be very carful that this does not happen to you.

 

[martin19842]

this is a difficult lesson to learn, i do have some advise that may be appreciated or not.

1. firstly take aperformance bond from your cleaning staff whether they are self employed or employed.

2. the more effective way to manage this, is to put a clause in both the client and employee (or self employted contract) restricting trade.

therefore in the client agreement, you would insert a term specifying that should and when the client terminates the contract, they arenot allowed to employ either directly or indirectly staff connected with your company.

and in your staff agreements, stipulate that should they leave your employ, then they are not allowed to approach or try to procure the business of your clients.

now if this went to court, it may be tested, however the clauses are there to act as a deterrent, and i have been involved in commercial cleaning for over 7 years and  it has worked fine in all of that time.

regards

martin

[Cleaning Services]

Hi,

Happened to me recently as well and what a pain!
Is there anyone who could give us an example of a contract either between us and customer or employees or do we have to go to a solicitor to have one drawn up.

MARK

[heritagecleaning]

As stated in a previous post, I am starting a new business in drafting these type of agreements. Anyone interested can PM me, or mail owen.guppy@ntlworld.com

Owen

[DP]

Heritage.
Curious how you are qualifying the legality of these documents are you from the legal profession  or are you using previous formats .

Example:
I took an insurance company to court and lost the case based on one word being omitted from the terms and conditions of a mandate, which cost me £77,000 in all. The document had been scrutinised by a solicitor (who gave it a clean bill of health), but remained untested.

[heritagecleaning]

I'm a Batchelor of Laws (LL.B), as well as having assisted in the preparation of documents for complex banking instrument fraud cases for clients I met via the cleaning business.

As far as your case goes, I sympathise with you. Terms & conditions should always be drafted as tightly as possible in my opinion, but are subject to varying interperetations when tested in court and can be thrown out for any number of reasons (unreasonable, void for uncertainty etc..)

I do feel good terms & conditions are still worth having though: they can act as a deterrant to others considering breaching your agreement and can give good leverage in any out of court negotiations.

Occasionally they do stand up in court too!


Owen

[DP]

I agree it is very important to trade under agreement/contracts, if nothing else it forms the basis of expectations and trading terms.

However I have advised previously on here that people should understand documents that they sign especially CONTRACTS, as you would be surprised what can be enforced in a court of law (however unreasonable it seems).

The cheekiest conditions can always seem to be found in franchise contracts, but then their industry can be solely based on the enforcement of these conditions and they throw a lot of money at perfecting them. It’s worth reading one of these just for the entertainment value.

I often smile at the suggestions of content sometimes recommended on here, but at least it’s in the right direction and will often serve as a deterrent if nothing else (which maybe all that is needed).

I’ve said it before, if you intend to run a business then remember the job isn’t just about doing the work, that’s the easy bit, all the rest is the hard stuff and your ultimate success can be based on how much time, effort and money you invest in those other bits like contracts etc.

"Any fool can earn money, its what they do with it that’s the clever part and keeping it seems like a good place to start".

Harsh but true.

[martin19842]

i used to work for one of these fanchise companies, and the terms and conditions were extremely onerous, and were regualrly tightened for the favour of the company.

i agree with what you say, as i have spent most of this week doing health and safety, but am going to do some hands on tomorrow.

but the best thing is that by midday on friday will have a full pack in place for every health and safety questionnaire that we get to complete.

regards

martin

[heritagecleaning]

Wise words, DP. All cleaning businesses/companies should invest in decent contracts. I've spent many an hour perfecting my own. Need help anyone? The doctor will see you now.

That's all I'll say on the matter.


Owen

[garyj]

All the best in your new venture Owen. You're not that far from me, so talk to you soon.

Are you in a position to check the contracts etc I already have in place?

[heritagecleaning]

Gary

I could look at them for you. Are they e-mailable? You can send them to owen.guppy@ntlworld.com. Or post them to me at Heritage House, Bath Road, Swindon SN1 3LS.

Did you draw them up yourself or was it done for you? How long ago?

By the way, where are you from?

Cheers



Owen

[pristineclean]

Hi Owen
While I hope your business does well, I can't help but ask whether your proposal to form legal documents might mislead some people into thinking that the protection which exists when prepared by members of the Law Society will exist if you do them?

Callum

[heritagecleaning]

Callum

I'm not a solicitor, but I do know my stuff, plus I wasn't palnning on charging £175 + VAT per hour! If you were to rely on a solicitor prepared document in court and you lost then you'd be surprised how little comeback you actually have.

Owen