Hello

I have been offered a job by a company whose business solutions are used by my present employer, with a no compete clause.

Have anyone else gone through similar situation, and whats a logical way around this? How strict is it implemented? The new company has suggested that perhaps I could resign from my current job, and then after some time, join them.

Being a non-EU, non-Swiss, though with a free (unrestricted) work permit, I am wary of doing any such thing. Any advice is welcome.

many thanks!!

But it sounds like you are being offered a job by a supplier to your current company, not a competitor. How is a non-compete clause relevant here?

Hi,

sorry for the technical mistake.. its surely not a no compete clause, but some such stuff that says that vendors cant steal employees from a client company.

Thanks for pointing this out mate!

Guess its called Non-Solicitation Clause!

Speak to an employment lawyer.

You cannot be denied the write to work, however, the Swiss are very strict about non-compete clauses and will uphold them to the letter. We have these at work, whereby we cannot solicit for business from my company's current client list before 2 years after leaving the company.

Just to clarify, is it a consulting company (like Accenture, Infosys, etc,) that are offering you a job, and that company are currently supplying consultancy services to the company you are working for?

I've not heard of issues that way around. There are often clauses which prevent a consultant leaving to work for a client company (then again, these may be overlooked if the client is important enough).

Though at the end of the day it all depends on whether your present company wants to kick up a fuss and how important they are to the vendor.

Hello!

well sort of.. its a speciality business solution vendor for financial firms. Only after 3 rounds of interviews, someone higher up the chain from the company realised this clause. I am not sure how my current employer will want to go about this. And thats my worry. I dont want to end up in a mess endangering my work permit here!

Any links, places to check on the net?? The prospective job is good and promising step for me and I am in a limbo currently on how to proceed.

If the hiring company really wants you normally they will agree a fee with your current employer to "workaround" this issue.

many thanks naza.
Will have to check this...

This is what I was going to say. Often there is a payout of some kind, an indemnity more or less as now your current employer is left without someone to do your job and will have to spend money to find a replacement.

That is more between your current and future employer than for you. Certainly, it may be awkward for your to consult with your current employer... but it has been seen in case of special skills.

I would not move nor take any decision before you have a firm contract signed in your hands. The concept of "after a little time join us" would make me nervous - are they planning to pay for that "little time" unemployed? you should ask for a sign-on bonus to compensate for that, or for contracting work for a period of time. Also, during that time you would be without accident insurance (normally covered by employer) and possibly needing an interim health insurance.

Best to discuss openly, with a contract lawyer (new company should investigate there), and eventually with your current employer when you are ready.

Dear all,

I want to discuss a similar case. I am starting my interview rounds with a competitor company. We work towards the same target but with two different approaches. I checked my current contract - I have no "do not work with competitors" clause in it. The other rules of my present company are as per "Swiss code of obligations".

In this case, what precautions should I take? Should I check with any other regulations or inform my hopefully new company (with whom I am only starting the interview)?

What steps would you have taken to make sure that there is no problem in the future?
Cheers!

If you do not have a non-compete clause in your contract, then there is clearly no problem.

You can ask in your interview if they foresee any problems there, but there are no grounds for it from what you say.