LOL - the ops manager doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
First, take a look at the noncompete, it’s standard boilerplate and probably says something like this:
Give them 50 miles and you’ve doubled your safety zone and don’t go after their customers.
Second, there’s no court in the world that would refuse you the ability to provide for your family. If you were the franchise owner, you’d be open to getting your butt sued off by the franchise (except in california) because you have intimate knowledge of the corporate procedures, operations, etc. But as a grunt, you don’t have access to that stuff. The owner might have cause if the ops manager went out and started his thing, but a window cleaner? I doubt it. And as for the former employee, yeah, he probably threatened to sue him but I doubt it went to court.
Third, talk to the owner. Explain to him about the baby on the way and how you’d like to make some extra money on the side until baby comes home. Explain how you’re dedicated to doing the best job you can for him and maybe get him a couple new route customers while you’re out and about. He’ll understand and as long as you’re not in his territory and taking his clients, you should be good.
If he doesn’t understand, I doubt there’s much he can do other than fire you if he catches you. And if he’s that big a douche, then you probably won’t be with him long term anyway. But if you’re not wearing the uniform, it sounds like he’d have to go way out of his way to mess with you.
It really sounds to me like the ops manager has let the little bit of authority he has go to his head. Instead of simply telling you, “Well, I’m not really sure. Let’s check with the owner”, he decided to pull something from his you-know-where.
It’s really not that uncommon in the work force for lower management to have an attitude. They’re just a step above the ‘grunts’, and usually have very little say in the way the company is run. So whenever they see an opportunity to assert themselves, even if they are overstepping their authority, they’ll take it. Of course this isn’t true of all lower management- just the ones who are insecure.
Hopefully the owner isn’t as much of a jerk as his ops manager. At any rate, please don’t get too discouraged. As others have pointed out, you’ve got a right to use your skills to provide for your family. And you’re going about it the right way.
If you decide to talk to the owner be humble. As an owner, if an employee starts talking about “their rights” I’m probably going to look at replacing them. The only right you have is to work for the betterment of the company.
It comes down to how would you want YOUR employee to ask the same thing knowing that you’ve invested thousands of dollars in them between equipment, workers comp, payroll, etc.
That’s the idea, but I don’t it’s ever prevented anyone. The ops manager is in a tougher spot than the window cleaners since he has inside knowledge. But I guess it comes down to what kind of guy the owner is.
All good advice : I would Tell him that with the baby coming youre going to need some extra cash , if it’s ok to clean some of your neighbors homes on the weekend . If it’s an area that he doesn’t cover , it should be fine .
Unless he’s a total jerk , then you know his true colors
I absolutely plan on being humble. The owner is a pretty nice guy. He has a habit of giving out bonus checks to employees for pretty much any reason he can think of. I am pretty certain that he will not have a problem. Thank you guys for the encouragement!
Those who say the ops manager is taking advantage of the little authority he has, you are spot on. Don’t get me wrong, he is a really good guy. He goes out of his way to ensure that I can make it to my wife’s prenatal doctor’s appointments, and other important events. However, he does try to be the top dog in the office, and he speaks as if he has all the authority in the world. When the owner is present, though, you can tell who the real “alpha” (even though I hate using that term) is.
If the owner says no, which I doubt, I will likely just clean on weekends as planned outside of their territory and without claiming any affiliation to them. As a Christian, I don’t want to lie or deceive. On the other hand, I never said I wouldn’t do it, and the quality fo life I could give my wife and child by building a business like this and starting young is too much to just walk away from.
Again, thanks you guys, you have been an immense help. I will update you after talking to the owner.
No compete Claus to me means nothing with employee an employer.
Don’t even know why they bother . Honestly I would really love to see proof of someone invoking A no compete Claus , they had there employee sign.
You can’t get blood from a stone . First off how are they going to prove in a court that said employee is breaking this contract , and if they prove it what is the judgment . 10 hours community time with your old employer. 3rd what dummy would waste there time
To me it works the opposite if you were to buy a business off someone them you would want a no compete Claus so the person you buy off of can’t compete against you.
More than likely your paying the business off so you have something you can fight for .
IDK I could be wrong not a lawyer
I just never herd of a no compete between employer an employe. I just new that if i was caught doing work that wasn’t mine I was fired done gone no questions asked.
Out here that stood mostly for route work they really didn’t care if you did a house on the side just don’t ever do any stores on my route
Every other industry it’s called side work for employee. “I got a side job this weekend ,” never herd of a employer getting upset for someone doing side work.
For the most part !!!
Now stealing customers is a whole other story. Employee is at customers house customer asks "hey can you power wash my deck employee says ya ill do it don’t tell my boss "
That’s stealing!!!
Your at the supermarket with your wife person says “hey you do window washing can you do my house.” That’s side work!!
My brother in law is a house painter for s big company he does side work all the time his boss knows as long as it’s not one of his customers he don’t care,
Because he knows he can’t police him what he does after work hours is none of his care as long as it’s not from his customers
There were guys that got fired that did this such thing took work from his customers to him that was stealing , an against company policy
Every company has there own company rules , an that’s what they are rules in my opinion nothing that can be held up in a court of law
Hi Everyone, first post here. I was in the auto glass business in Arizona for quite a few years and my bosses would laugh about the no compete they made everyone sign. They knew it was unenforceable, they just put it in there to scare off the wannabes who sit on the fence about starting there own thing. OP, if it was me, as a Christian as well, I’d go ahead and speak to the owner and see how it went. That will just let you judge how fast you need to be running when you hit the ground.
I talked to the owner. He said that he’s pretty sure the non-compete is meant to prevent me cleaning anywhere (he said he would “look into it,” last week but I haven’t heard anything else yet). I would still be able to clean without him knowing, of course, but my wife isn’t comfortable with the “risk” to my job, bless her heart :). Her concern is understable, she is a natural worrier.
The non compete wording is pretty specific. If you’re 50 miles out, you’re fine legally and morally. Whether or not the owner will be fine with it is another question.
NO non compete for an employee, can be used as a means to stop you from making an income. You have a right to make a living, like anyone else.
Since you are skilled as a window cleaner, you own that skill. Only YOU own that skill. Your employer does not.
They may only tell you what/how/where, when you are paid on the clock, or when you are representing the company. So when you are off the clock, and the uniform is off, and you are not using your employer’s company name to promote yourself/business, you are a free man to do as you damn well please.
Okay, so the owner did update me on what the policy says, and you guys were right. It says I cannot clean within 20 miles of any Fish location. However, my boss said that they’d prefer I didn’t do it on my own, as I would not be able to use Fish equipment, and in order to ensure that I didn’t use it, they’d have to have me leave my equipment at the office after every week, possibly even daily.
However, he didn’t say I couldn’t do it. Just that they’d prefer I didn’t.
Easier said than done as far as I can see! I started attempting to flip auto parts from salvage yards this past week while waiting for his response. Though, I think window cleaning would be far simpler and more lucrative.
Flip burgers at Mickey Dees at night and wash windows all day. Let him know you prefer him to be out of business. You know the pricing of your biggest competitor now, use it to your advantage on new accounts he doesn’t have and when the noncompete rings out after the year or two start sniping. I’m sure in the areayou described, people would rather use a small locally owned business instead of some big corporation like that. Use that to your advantage. Business is the last place where the strong can still survive better yet thrive.
