bg hitting its engineers.
- Thread starter jumbo55
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it may be that they don't want their engineers taking work off them and doing it under the BG name..
it's all to easy to go to a job that BG is charging for and say "pssst... I can do this for you later for half the price, just phone up and cancel the job.. "..
now I'm not saying that they do that, it's just something that BG might think could happen.
also, since a BG engineer is unlikely to have his own van and set of tools to do the work with then they are using company property and if using the works van, are doing so under false pretenses.. people think they are getting a BG engineer if they turn up in a BG van when in fact it's a "foreigner" and has no come back to BG if it goes wrong..
it's all to easy to go to a job that BG is charging for and say "pssst... I can do this for you later for half the price, just phone up and cancel the job.. "..
now I'm not saying that they do that, it's just something that BG might think could happen.
also, since a BG engineer is unlikely to have his own van and set of tools to do the work with then they are using company property and if using the works van, are doing so under false pretenses.. people think they are getting a BG engineer if they turn up in a BG van when in fact it's a "foreigner" and has no come back to BG if it goes wrong..
read the thread coljack, already said should get sack if turning up with a bg van, only an idiot does that, boiler fixing tools fit in standard toolbox, most important tool is the multimeter. reason for van is parts stock.
im talking about a gas engineer working for bg who is seperately registered with corgi doing work in his own time using his own car and tools. im talking about the right to carry on with your trade outside working hours. if corgi put you on their register and you get work off of it, why should you not be allowed to do it. bg are saying they will check if any of their engineers are registered for work with corgi therefore holding their own corgi card (which they have to pay for ) and sack them for gross misconduct.
im talking about a gas engineer working for bg who is seperately registered with corgi doing work in his own time using his own car and tools. im talking about the right to carry on with your trade outside working hours. if corgi put you on their register and you get work off of it, why should you not be allowed to do it. bg are saying they will check if any of their engineers are registered for work with corgi therefore holding their own corgi card (which they have to pay for ) and sack them for gross misconduct.
If it was in your contract you signed upon taking up employment then fair enough you agreed to it. If it is a change in working conditions that you have not agreed to or was not specifically made clear at time of signing I don't see how they can then move the goal posts.
Needs an expensive court case/tribunal ruling I would expect before anyone will know for certain
Needs an expensive court case/tribunal ruling I would expect before anyone will know for certain
You would be seen as a competitor of bg`s if you did work in your own time even if you used your own car,tools etc.
What company in their right mind would employ a competitor?
Seems commonsense approach by bg if you ask me .
paul
What company in their right mind would employ a competitor?
Seems commonsense approach by bg if you ask me .
paul
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ok i found out about this.
without possibly breaking the data act the contract specifically says (in other words).
employees shall not give potential business to a competitor.
employees shall not work in competition to BG.
fairly ambigious but also pretty straightforward.
you couldnt have read the contract if you didnt know thats this was included. you would have signed something at the start of your employment saying that you have read the contract and understood everything in it, and read and agreed to any future updates. i believe the last such update was 2003.
if you are in employment with BG your means of earning a living is by working with BG. you have not been denied a way of earning a living.
have you any proof that BG couldnt legally uphold this clause in the contract? they may have no right to stop you actually doing the work but they still have the right to terminate your employment for competing with them.
without possibly breaking the data act the contract specifically says (in other words).
employees shall not give potential business to a competitor.
employees shall not work in competition to BG.
fairly ambigious but also pretty straightforward.
you couldnt have read the contract if you didnt know thats this was included. you would have signed something at the start of your employment saying that you have read the contract and understood everything in it, and read and agreed to any future updates. i believe the last such update was 2003.
if you are in employment with BG your means of earning a living is by working with BG. you have not been denied a way of earning a living.
have you any proof that BG couldnt legally uphold this clause in the contract? they may have no right to stop you actually doing the work but they still have the right to terminate your employment for competing with them.
if you are in employment with BG your means of earning a living is by working with BG. you have not been denied a way of earning a living.
didnt say you have been denied earning a living, i said you have been restricted from plying your trade outside working hours.
i hope you never work for bg, i wouldnt wish that on anybody, they've got signatures from me for courses i never received, why do you think i dont work for them anymore, health and safety were in my opinion severely compromised, i can only talk for my patch in london. bg were severely undermanned and just didnt have the time. they are losing good engineers, and anybody who works for them, isnt surprised.
didnt say you have been denied earning a living, i said you have been restricted from plying your trade outside working hours.
i hope you never work for bg, i wouldnt wish that on anybody, they've got signatures from me for courses i never received, why do you think i dont work for them anymore, health and safety were in my opinion severely compromised, i can only talk for my patch in london. bg were severely undermanned and just didnt have the time. they are losing good engineers, and anybody who works for them, isnt surprised.
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jumbo55 said:
fair enough, i misunderstood. you make it sound such a big deal though. you can do overtime and radicals you know.
too late. been there, seen it, worn the t-shirt.
i didnt find it that difficult.
health and safety was never a problem as thats mostly down to the individual. they are undermanned but that never bothered me.....only so many jobs you can do in a day, the rest gets sent back.
im considering going back as well
actually nickso, i do think its a big deal, but maybe not for the reasons you think. its about bg telling its engineers what they can and cant do on their days off, i dont know of any such restrictions on carpenters plasterers or painters.... the list goes on.
if bg are such a good firm ...what you leave em for, and if you are so good, why do you have to go back working for them, good engineers are highly sought after outside bg. unless that is you live in a cornfield, a place where bg havent got enough work even for their own workforce.
you probably know that 1000s of engineers are shipped into london in the winter cos london engineers just cant handle the amount of jobs.
just feel people are missing the point, its not so much the money, its the right to use your time as you see fit on your days off.As things stand, you wouldnt be able to charge your mother in law a tenner to fit a boiler in her kitchen, you could be sacked for it. and if you give up your own corgi card, your breaking the law and can be sacked for it on the same job.
just remember that nickso when your doing your 14 quid radicals, and sitting in on your 20 quid standbys.
if bg are such a good firm ...what you leave em for, and if you are so good, why do you have to go back working for them, good engineers are highly sought after outside bg. unless that is you live in a cornfield, a place where bg havent got enough work even for their own workforce.
you probably know that 1000s of engineers are shipped into london in the winter cos london engineers just cant handle the amount of jobs.
just feel people are missing the point, its not so much the money, its the right to use your time as you see fit on your days off.As things stand, you wouldnt be able to charge your mother in law a tenner to fit a boiler in her kitchen, you could be sacked for it. and if you give up your own corgi card, your breaking the law and can be sacked for it on the same job.
just remember that nickso when your doing your 14 quid radicals, and sitting in on your 20 quid standbys.
W
wilhelm
err i believe the script goes like this. if you are employed, you do as youre fekkin told. and if you dont like it ,you go self employed, and do what you fekkin like.
wilhelm said:err i believe the script goes like this. if you are employed, you do as youre fekkin told. and if you dont like it ,you go self employed, and do what you fekkin like.
very well put
did you know that the police have the cheeek to stop me burglaling in me own time
UN_BE_LIVABLE
The grassis always greener on the other side. You employed people on £12 and hour don't know how well paid you are.
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jumbo55 said:
do carpenters or painters sign an agreement not to work outside their company? i think its you that is missing the point now. if you dont like the clause then leave.
BG have this clause. you didnt like it. you left. others leave. some stay. some go back.
i didnt say they were a good company. i left to do something else for a while.
i didnt say i "was so good", i said i didnt find it difficult in response to your statements about the working conditions. as ive said before, BG isnt a company everyone can work for. some just aren't cut out for it. its nothing personal.
i dont have to, i may choose to if i decide i want to. why would you have a problem with that?
that is true but why shouldnt i work for them if i want to. are you saying i cant be a good engineer if i want to go back there? poor engineers also leave BG, are you one of them or one of the highly sought after good engineers?
where is this mythical place?
how many of the 5000 or so engineers that BG have do you think they can spare to work in london? 1000's go every year do they? where did you get that number from?
that is a ridiculous statement. even though it is technically a breach of contract fitting a boiler for your mother is not what that clause is trying to stop and you know it. you have the right to do what ever you like on your days off as long as its not working outside BG as you have signed a contract stating you wont.
remember what exactly? something i dont actually care about? if i dont want to be in breach of contract why would i waste my time thinking about how much it annoys you? while im not thinking about it ill still be getting paid £28 an hour and getting £20 for just waking up and maybe getting the majority of my day doing whatever i want.
nickso, probably one of the best attitudes of an employed person I have heard. Wish I could find someone like you to employ sometimes.
As I always say to the whingers in Plumbs in the morning, why whinge, if you don't like it leave! I wouldn't and have never, stayed working for someone I wasn't happy working for
As I always say to the whingers in Plumbs in the morning, why whinge, if you don't like it leave! I wouldn't and have never, stayed working for someone I wasn't happy working for
The phrase "working in competition" is an ambiguous one.
Surely if you are priced more reasonably then you are not working in direct competition. I know many people feel put off by the prices of BG and would therefore try and get quotes off a local independant. If that customer would never consider BG then surely you aren't competing with them...?
I think a real conflict would be if you were soliciting for work whilst on BG jobs - not so hard to prove if they set you up, but very hard to disprove if they accuse you...
Surely if you are priced more reasonably then you are not working in direct competition. I know many people feel put off by the prices of BG and would therefore try and get quotes off a local independant. If that customer would never consider BG then surely you aren't competing with them...?
I think a real conflict would be if you were soliciting for work whilst on BG jobs - not so hard to prove if they set you up, but very hard to disprove if they accuse you...