Posted By JWG Good morning. I'm currently working for a consultancy company and I have been asked to provide consultancy to a friend independantly. In the future it is my intention to provide it to other companies. In my current job, clients are already signed up with the company (via sales reps) before I see them so I don't think there is a conflict of interest. In the additional role I will not utilise/copy any information from my employer. Does my current employer have a justified cause for concern? Are they able to restrict my right to work? What is best advised - sole trader or Ltd company? and what are the pit falls. What is the going rate for consultancy these days? Many thanks....

Posted By JWG Thanks for your comments. I have not been informed of terms relating to the above comments. I was just given a typical employee handbook which it is not mentioned in there. Does anyone no what the legal status would for them to try to force me to agree with their terms even though I wasn't previously informed? Do I have an obligation to inform my employer? Thanks.

Posted By peter gotch and JWG your employer's PII insurance might be up for grabs if you get in wrong on a homer job. There is previous history of this happening in circumstances where the employer was wholly unaware of what their employee was doing at the weekends. p

Posted By David Bannister JWG, there's a good chance that the Tesco buyer working for Asda would rapidly find that Tesco no longer needed their services. A UK Gov't employee who offered their services to Iran has recently been convicted and is currently awaiting sentence. Their Gov't job has disappeared. Be prepared for a P45.

Posted By Guderian I think the point is that what you are suggesting is in direct competition with your current employer's business. If you did H&S consultancy Mon-Fri and then worked as a taxi driver, for example, over the weekend - then you are doing a 2nd job un-related to your employers business and hence not in competition. DOn't think this would be a problem. I think its all a matter of employment contract law. Regardless of the specifics, I'm sure a standard clause in contracts of employment are that you will not undertake other employed work without informing your main employer. If the other work is in competition with your main job, then I would think you would be on very sticky ground and would quite reasonably be asked to consider your position - if not I'm sure a P45 would follow quite quickly. Then there is also the matter of informing HM Revenue about your 2nd job and the tax implications of it. Also any reports etc that you might need to write, would I presume be done at home - so you would then have to (in theory) tell your local council that you are running a business from home, so that would be a change of use of your property. This would possibly attract a business rates charge. You would also have to tell your house insurance company - they would want to know about business equipment on the premises, cash etc. You would also have to register the business with the local Environmental Health Dept - being an office type set up, they could possibly inspect under HASAWA etc. (There may even be elements of the old Office, Shops and Railway Premises Act still in force - any experts on this? - apologies if title not quoted correctly or indeed if totally repealed!! - not my area of expertise) You also need to consider professional liability insurance, if you give bad advice. Its all very well saying it just advice for a mate, but if it all went pear shaped then you might regret not having insurance cover....

Posted By Richard Altoft JWG - my opinion is as follows, others might not agree. I run a consultancy and would not trust anyone who worked for me and who also did private work in "their " own time not to let their private work encroach into "my space" by the odd phone call, the looking up of a problem in my time, use of Internet etc. Such habits soon extend into stealing clients, copying documents and using licensed software or training materials for own advantage. There is a concept of intellectual property which means knowledge gained whilst in a company belongs to the company. Professionalism is also an issue. Any of my staff doing this would be dismissed immediately and would be reported to IOSH on Code of Conduct grounds. I would risk any come back.

Posted By cdthomas Hi JW, Shame you've given up so easily? I am just posting you what you need to do via Inland Rev etc etc If you pursued your dream , you would have to tell the Inland revenue within 3 months of your self-employment status-alsowould you be VAT registered? Currently the threshold is 67,000 before you HAVE to be VAT registered, below that and it's up to you. Would have to consider the Data protection Act also, if you went on the ICO website, its easier enough to follow whether you need to be registered or not, if you do, it costs 35.oo for the year. I was going to set up as a Book-keeper from home but didnt need to inform the council about it, worth ringing them though just incase. I can fully appreciate what people are saying about poaching clients etc etc, as long as you didnt do that-I cant see why you dont set up on your own-there has to be a cross-over point surely? You cant walk out of your job on a friday and set up on the monday with no clients??? You would have done the marketing bit before that to see whether it was viable? Hope i've been of some help? I keep landing myself in hot water here so am trying to be careful lol c