I’m considering a few options at the moment in term of future employment. I have nearly 20yrs experience and have been in my current job working for a multinational professional services firm as a town planner for 6 yrs – a good stint.

A decent offer with a competitor is expected to come forward in the next couple of weeks, if i decide to go with it, it will not go down well at current work at all well.

Any tips on how to handle this tactically? Will they ask me to leave straight away and does that mean ‘straight away’ that minute? can i raise the issues of gardening leave? I’d love a few weeks off! How do i best manage existing clients that have brought work to the company because they want to use my services? Do i suggest they consider transferring contract to my new company?

thoughts and experiences welcome

see my reply on your orginal thread…

Will they ask me to leave straight away

I’d say it’s at their discretion. I’ve been expected to stay for a few weeks in some places and escorted from the premises in others (which is actually sensible working in IT, a disgruntled employee can do a lot of damage in a couple of weeks).

can i raise the issues of gardening leave? I’d love a few weeks off!

That’s easy. When the new company asks when you can start, add a couple of weeks.

Do i suggest they consider transferring contract to my new company?

That’s highly unprofessional (and may be illegal?) However, if you happen to be talking to your customers and it happens to come out in conversation, well…

If they want you to leave right away, your current eployer still has to pay you through your notice period. For as long as they pay you thorugh your notice period you cant start work at the new place. This is called “gardening leave”.

If they make you work your notice period and you want a few weeks off you tell your new place that youll start at the end of notice period + 2wks.

If you make a sufficient pain in the arse of yourself during your notice period your old place may ask you to bugger off out the way so you get some gardening leave 🙂

Check your contract.

First, You would normally be asked to serve some kind of notice period (usually a month). If you are knowledable of sensitive data that could be used by the competitor (ie finances), they could ask you to go on gardening leave. – this is a period of paid leave designed to remove you from the business so your knowledge becomes out of date / can be mitigated. Normally its within your contract and if its not there now you may not get it. In which case you could be removed from the office straight away. Another way of doing this is the slight dodgy practise of “encouraging” you (normally via an extra over payment) to leave immediately and forget about the notice period.

The can also sue if you take data direct to a competitor/attempt to take clients with you (and they can prove it). It wilol depend on the “value” of the data you communicate and the cost of the lawsuit. Unusual but it happens so watch out for that – consider doing it in an unobvious type of way.

Contracts can’t be transferred – they exists within the legal entity of the company.

IME – the more your actually want gardening leave, the less likely it is to happen

as an update, i handed in my notice on monday, they had a day to think about it and now i’m on gardening leave!!
A little concerned about my client base and how they will react with others taking over….i guess i will have to wait until i am ‘out of contract’ with my current employer before i can contact them.