Can a business restrain my self employed trade?

I had intended to take up a position with a local business. Basic terms were agreed. As a result of a number of matters, I was unable to take up the position. However, all parties were happy to accept me on a self employed basis. We proceeded on this basis for 4 1/2 weeks, but as a result of not being paid within the terms they said they would, I decided I would have to become traditionally self employed i.e. to everyone. They have now sent a letter stating their intention to sue me for damages as a result of not taking the job and also intend to sue me if I carry on self-employed! I have not stolen sensitive information or clients (indeed quite the reverse, they benefitted vastly from my free input). Can this be enforced?
Additional Details
The reason I could not take the initial PAYE job was because of unreasonable demands they made of me before I joined. Furthermore, the reason I was going to join was because my Ltd Co. business was going to be wound down and they thought they'd like a go at it. As part of the transition, they purchased some equipment from my Ltd Co. business (tools etc.) but never made any effort to pay for them. They just made excuses and it reached the point that I could not tkae up their employment offer as they could not honour their part of the arrangement to pay for items they wanted from my Ltd. Co.

No proper legal document has ever been drawn up and it's all be done on the basis of a few meetings, e-mails and good will on my part it seems, not theirs!)

randomcobweb

The question you need to ask is did I sign a non-compete provision? If so yes they can restrain your employment opportunities.

If you did not sign one, then other questions needs to be asked, such as are you doing work for their clients, are you making it appear as if you work for the business and not as an independent entity.

There are a lot of legal issues, and you should speak to an attorney with knowledge of employment issues for an accurate analysis of the facts in your personal situation.

maurice b

I think this may depend on if you have signed some sort of contract with them

The Simurgh

if you have nothing on paper they have nothing on paper and will most likely lose.

Cari

Firstly, any employer can contractually prevent you from having other employment, whether or not it is competing with their business, simply by arguing that it "interferes" with their business, and this could include simply taking up time that they feel should be assigned to them. So actually, they're in the right on this matter (although note the word "contractually"). Of course, there are many concerns that they could have about alternative employment other than just this.

With regard to them suing you for not taking the job ... you don't go into detail about this. You say that you were "unable" to take the job. What do you mean by this? Was it your fault, or theirs? Clearly, they must have been fine with the arrangement or they wouldn't have taken you on as self-employed, but I'm wondering if there could be some other factor here which would work in their favour. Perhaps, if it was their fault, you could consider counter-suing them.

If they've not paid you for work that you've done though, you should look into suing them about this. I'm not familiar with the way you'd go about this if you're self-employed as compared with a permanent employee, though, and unfortunately I don't think you'd qualify for an employment tribunal but would instead need to take it through the regular courts which would be costly and time-consuming.

waldo_mcginty

First point is that if no employment commenced there is no contract of employment to sue on. If they agreed that the â€˜employmentâ€™ would not start they waived any rights they may have had under it had it commenced.Moreover Courts are usually extremely reluctant to enforce contracts for personal services (employed or otherwise) unless e.g you are rock star and not taking the job would cause large losses if your concert were cancelled.

So far as self employment goes what contract terms applied ? Contracts in restraint of trade are initally considered unreasonable unless the party who wants to rely on them can establish they are reasonable in terms of the period of time and area they claim to apply them for. I would concentrate on the fact that they apparently broke whatever contract you had by not paying you.If thatâ€™s the same contract as the rely on for the restraint clause your argument is that the contract no longer applies due to non payment. Also limiting someoneâ€™s future employment after only 4.5 weeks of employment will take some justifying.

This is only a personal opinion based on a limited amount of info so cannot be regarded as gospel.If you think your opponent will pursue the matter see a solicitor,

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