My daughter's employment hassles

[ReadingPalace]

My daughter, who is 22, works as a nursery nurse, and has recently given notice, as she has been approached by a former parent of a child at the nursery to be their nanny. The problem, however, is a clause in my daughter's contract stating that she will be liable for 2 months pay as compensation, should she leave to look after a child formerly at the nursery. Despite the dubious legality of such a clause, and the fact that her prospective new employer promised to sort this issue out, it is still hanging over her head, and it is quite horrible having to see her in tears and on the verge of panic attacks caused by the stress of the situation.

Apparently her current boss told her today that he would 'start to get nasty' if the issue was not sorted out soon. My wife suggested that I might want to have a 'quiet word' with him, although my daughter wouldn't want me to get involved in this way.

Anyway, I just thought I'd vent my frustrations on here, and see if anyone had any advice for me or her. She's not a football fan herself but I did take her to Palace once, back when she was 6. She saw a 1-0 win over Charlton on a freezing cold December afternoon, thanks to a late Shipps effort, so has a 100% record watching the mighty Eagles!

[delboy01]

If someone told either of my daughters they would 'get nasty' with her. They would get a visit discussing how I love baseball........

If I were in that position I would not even work my notice.

[Billyd]

Im assuming he is being nasty to her? Also Im sure such a clause is rubbish? Have you looked into it? I would advise (if he is being unfair to her) to just not turn up for work if hes being a cock and threaten him with legal and union action for being abusive to her at work (if he is).

Also tell her to speak to her colleagues and make them aware of what is going on and get them on her side - they may be asked to give statements. Employees have far too many rights in the country, but this is a case where she can use it to her advantage.

[Nelson Muntz]

Originally Posted by delboy01

If someone told either of my daughters they would 'get nasty' with her. They would get a visit discussing how I love baseball........

If I were in that position I would not even work my notice.

Agreed, If anybody upsets my family they upset me.

[bonzo]

You gotta go pay him a visit, no more answers needed.

[Pistol Knight]

Did your daughter sign a contract with that clause in it?

[thehalifaxman]

That is a very strange contract clause indeed and I'd very very surprised if it is not against EU employment Law. I'll await the BBS Legal team on this one though

[Pistol Knight]

My wife owns a Nursery and they have a clause that if you have been given "free" training, if they leave within a 1 yr period, they must not work for a rival nursery, if they do they must pay all training cost back to the company, there is so much "parent" poaching of staff in that business some clauses have to be included

[Latvian Eagle]

I don't work in a nursery but in my current job there's a clause in my contract that given the cost of my training depending on when I leave (if ever) then I'd have to pay back a percentage of the training costs. I think the cost decreases between...

12 months
12-18 months
18-24 months
24+ months

As such I can't see anything actually wrong with the clause in the contract and your daughter or her new employer may have to cough up, but certainly this guy should not be threat3ning in his behaviour at all. Perhaps his clientel might want to know what sort of man's ¨looking after¨ their children?!

[Skintagain]

Originally Posted by Pistol Knight

My wife owns a Nursery and they have a clause that if you have been given "free" training, if they leave within a 1 yr period, they must not work for a rival nursery, if they do they must pay all training cost back to the company, there is so much "parent" poaching of staff in that business some clauses have to be included

Has she ever been successful in claiming it?

[Pistol Knight]

Yes

[Psychokiller]

I'm sure that's an unenforceable restriction of trade?

[bowers]

Call the citizens advice bureau and start there. If the non compete clause can be identified as completely unenforceable then the problem goes away. If I've understood your description properly, it doesn't look like the employer is holding back wages or anything like that. He's just threatening to demand compensation from her. If his clause is unenforceable then your daughter can forget about him. If it is enforceable, then that's that. Her stress is being caused by not knowing where she stands and proper advice on the legality of the clause will help with that.

I can't think that threatening to give the guy a good kicking is going to do much beyond giving you the chance to hire your own lawyer.

[Sunny Fan]

It's probably worthwhile your daughter noting down exact dates and times and quotes from her boss in meetings they've had, in case this does go further.

[Scroatey]

It's not that far away from us getting compensation from Bolton.

It is also similar to a company taking on a temp, and if they then recruit them permanently a fee can be charged for the "introduction" - however, this used to be forever, I think now it can only be for a couple of months.

The above doesn't restrict her ability to work elsewhere, and it maybe typical of the new employer to pick up the tab, what are they saying? As for the current employer being a ****, sounds like she's best out of there, and once she is it is time to name and shame right here on the internet!

[Psychokiller]

How long has she been in the job? If she's been doing the job for years then what actual "training" have they given her?

[Mr Statto]

Originally Posted by Pistol Knight

My wife owns a Nursery and they have a clause that if you have been given "free" training, if they leave within a 1 yr period, they must not work for a rival nursery, if they do they must pay all training cost back to the company, there is so much "parent" poaching of staff in that business some clauses have to be included

We had a similar clause at the pre-school I used to be treasurer of - although most of the training courses were funded externally (though bursaries etc), if someone left within 12 months of doing a funded course then we would have recouped the "cost" pro-rata, as they could have prevented another member of staff accessing the funding for that course.

That said, we were never in a position to need to try to get it back

[Pistol Knight]

No external funding involved, my wife pays for it up front

[Neillo's Son]

If she's been in the job less than a year then I can see why this has happened. It's not ideal, but if she's willing to jump ship and leave them with what I'd imagine is a fairly expensive training bill then they must have suffered from this before and enacted a clause in the contract.

If she's been there minimum 1 year, then I don't see her having a problem and they're probably trying to scare her into paying but it's best to get some proper legal advice and fast.

[jone-zee]

Give the bloke a good paggering then ask about getting nasty