How do you stop employees from stealing clients?

Consider asking new hires and existing employees to sign a non-solicitation agreement as a requirement of accepting a position with your company. These agreements state that an employee is not to contact any clients of your company for a certain period after retirement, quitting or dismissal.

How do you stop someone from stealing your clients?

Use contracts

Try arranging long-term contracts with your clients. Perhaps you could discount your offering in exchange for them signing up with you for the long haul. Such contracts prevent the competition from getting in, and also make your company more valuable to the potential acquirer (a double bonus).

How do you stop a former employee from stealing clients?

A non-compete agreement prevents your contractors and employees from going to work for a competitor prior to leaving your business. You can simply insert a non-solicitation clause to prevent contractors from stealing your clients.

What to do if an employee steals from a client?

Consult an attorney because if the customer is in fact not being truthful, your employee can sue your business for defamation. Be careful and consult an attorney. If the customer does not want to press charges but instead terminate the cleaning services altogether, consult an attorney.

Is stealing clients illegal?

First of all, no business "owns" its clients or customers. People are free to use whichever service providers they like, and agreements that prevent them from doing so are often viewed as illegal "restraints of trade" and are generally struck down by the courts.

How to Keep Employees From Stealing My Clients

Can I sue an employee for stealing customers?

If an employee breaches a material term of their employment contract, you can sue them for any damages. For example, a contract might require an employee to give two weeks notice before quitting. If the employee then left without notice and you lost revenue as a result, you could pursue a claim against them.

Can an employer sue an employee for stealing clients?

Theft or Destruction of Company Property

If an employee steals or destroys your company property, you can sue them for conversion. Conversion is a civil claim based on someone wrongfully depriving another of their property. Damages for conversion are based on the fair market value of the property taken or destroyed.

How do you fire an employee for stealing?

Depending on the seriousness of the theft, you may find it necessary to temporarily suspend an employee while an investigation is conducted, but you cannot fire an employee simply based on suspicion. Look for unequivocal evidence that the employee has committed theft.

How do you approach an employee who is stealing?

How do you prove an employee is stealing?

Can an employee steal clients?

This statute states that a former employee is prohibited from stealing his employer's “trade secrets”, even in a case when the employee has not signed a non-solicitation agreement. A client list is considered such a trade secret.

How can we stop client poaching?

Can you take clients when you leave a job?

Soliciting clients or advising them of the employee's plans prior to resigning can lead to problems. Although the law varies among states as to the propriety of an employee giving clients advance notice of his/her departure, solicitation prior to the employee's departure generally is not permitted.

What is it called when you steal customers?

It's not unethical to try to attract customers away from your competitors - in the marketing world, it's called “competitive advertising”, and has been around for thousands of years.

What does it mean to poach clients?

transitive verb. If an organization poaches members or customers from another organization, they secretly or dishonestly persuade them to join them or become their customers. Companies sometimes poach employees from one another.

What is anti poaching agreement?

Anti-Poaching agreements between Employers

Section 34 of the Competition Act of Singapore8 passed in 2004, prohibits an agreement between competitors not to solicit each other's employees as anti-competitive. Such agreements are also considered as having an adverse effect on competition.

Can a manager accuse an employee of stealing?

"An accusation of theft, if proven false, could lead to a defamation action. You need solid evidence, such as an eyewitness, before you can accuse an employee of theft. And sometimes eyewitnesses may not be credible."

Do companies press charges for employee theft?

Yes. If your employer decides to press charges against you then you can be charged with theft or larceny. These are serious charges and, among other things, will become a matter of public record. You'll face steep fines, legal fees and even possibly jail time if the crime was large enough to warrant that sentence.

Is employee poaching illegal?

If an employee uses a former employer's confidential information, it's illegal in all circumstances. More on that below. The law does not prevent aggressively recruiting or poaching employees, whether they work for competitors or not.

Can you sue an ex employee for taking clients?

Aside from a breach of fiduciary duty, you can also sue both the ex-employees and your competitor for theft of trade secrets, if you can meet the criteria for such a claim.

How do you fire a client?

Stay calm, rational and polite. Give reasons for terminating the relationship, but keep emotion and name-calling out of the conversation. Follow-up with a phone call. You can start the process with an email, but you should follow-up with a phone call to talk your client through the process and answer any questions.

How do you handle an employee poaching?

Can I poach clients?

Where a valid restraint of trade clause is drafted into the employee's contract it gives the employer a right to enforce that restrictive covenant against the employee should the employee leave and attempt to damage the business by stealing customers or clients or poaching staff.

What are the warning signs of employee theft?

Why do employees steal?

Some employees steal simply because the opportunity is there. Others may feel wronged by their employer in some way and steal as a form of retaliation. Still others may steal because they believe the theft to be harmless because their employer has insurance against theft.