Loyalty Contract???

Not sure if Loyalty contract is the right discription, but here goes.

Back in the U.K a few years back now i trained as a make-up artist with a company called New Image and i had to sign a contract that said should my contract finish as a result of termination or resignation i was not permitted to use any techniques the company had taught me during my time there to work for any other company or myself for two years or legal action would be taken...i forget the details, but that was the jist of it.

I would like to know if there are any laws in the DR that would support such a contract here?

To train our staff takes ALOT of time and money, and allthough i can not stop people from moving on ideally i would like to protect the originality of my business as much as possible. I would also like to add to the contract that working for anyone else or themselves using our equipment, costumes or techniques while employed by us is also not permitted. The area we work in is a very limited, but we have been successful as we were pretty much the first in our area, I could take the risk of training people and for them to become my direct competition.

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.

Thank you!

I will certainly wait for Mr Guzman to advise as this is something i am not familiar with, Thank you so much to take the time in replying with such excellent information.

Your a star!

Celt202 said:

She's talking about loyalty contracts for her own employees to protect the proprietary equipment, costumes and techniques of her own business.

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Yes thats right, as i said before our business is an unusual business and we have a small and limited area of work, we have been successful as we were the first ones in the area to do what we do.

Training can take months and months so our investment in our trainees and employees is huge, too much for them to become our direct competition when training is complete.

I know its a risk many employers take, but i am just trying to protect my business the best way i know how.

Another team had appeared in Punta Cana with almost the same show we have except its really very amature and the hotels we are recieving from others is that our show is 100 times better, however the majority of this team is made up of people who have been trained by us and have become our direct competition!!

I am not worried currently as their show contains many people terminated by us that were not good at their jobs and unlike us they have established and strong competition to start with, i just want to try and hinder this happening again.

Just a thought.....

When i signed my contract all those years ago saying was not permitted to work for another company or myself using the techniques i was taught by them, I didnt find out if that was actually legal i just abided by it.

Maybe adding something like that in our contracts would be enough even if it couldnt be backed by law. It just may be enough to make them think it. A bit naughty i know, but alls fair in love and war

I know someone in a similar business to me and he gets all his new employees to sign a contract to say they are aware that no liquidation will paid should their employment be terminated!! Now we all know that it doesnt matter what that contract says the law of the land overules it, but no one who works for him has been paid liquidation nor tried to get it as they know they signed that bit of paper. I mean we are not talking about educated knowledgable people here, i dont mean that to sound rude but they wouldnt know any better.

I mean that it totally out of order and i just couldnt live with the nerves of someone oneday catching me out, but he obviously feels he needs to do it...tut tut!

But in this case im not trying to do someone out of money owed of anything like that, just thinking and trying to preserve what we have worked so hard for.

Thanks

Ok well that information really helps and i will look into it. Of course i want to do it lawfully but i am hoping just the suggestion of it will hinder poeple to try and do it.

I dont think i would actually enforce it should it happen, i just want it to be effective as a proactive form of defence rather than a reactive..if you catch my drift.

Youve been very helpful thank you all!

2dlight said:

Laurajane,
Knowing the business that you're in, and the time and effort needed to train and groom your athletes and perfomers, my best suggestion is that you stay on top of the game. Don't stop being creative, change the routines regularly so as not to get stale, boring and predictable. Bring someone from the outside who can teach something unique and different from the competition. Make the competition earn their bookings. In your business, you must WOW the audience every time, even those who've been to Cirque in Las Vegas(only two hours from me), just had to throw that in!
PM me if you'd like some more suggestions, sorry don't have a clue about DR legal contracts.

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Ok Thanks, but dont worry i havent got this far without knowing how to put on a good show and keep it that way!!