Solicitation of staff and terms of business

[atolhurst]

Can anyone help me?

In my company terms and conditions of business, it states that if the client (ie, the person paying the invoice) poaches one of the company staff, they will be charged a fee for the inconvenience caused in losing that staff member.

Am trying to find a website that defines whether that is legal or not. it seems lots of companies refer to it but I can't find anything legal to say 'yes, you can say that 'or 'no you can't'.

Also, do people have to acknowledge that they've read the terms and conditions or do they just have to be presented to them?

Thanks.

[bednobs]

i would have thougth that any client of yours would be accepting the terms and conditions of your company when they trade with you, there fore, your t and c could say they have to paint their noses purple, and while its not legal to force someone to do that, it is legal to enforce a contract where that was on of the t and c. similarly with paying a fee, you might not fnd it in "law" but if the company have accepted the t and c they will have to stick by it.

[Golden Shred]

(1) Such a condition is perfectly proper, legal and enforceable
(2) To create a straightforward legal contract you should have submitted a formal written quotation with a returnable slip for signature saying in essence "I accept your quotation"
(3) Nevertheless, if you quoted orally or in writing and then received an oral or written instruction to supply a person then you have a straightforward binding legal contract in accordance with the terms of your quotation
(4) You cannot impose terms later on that were not known to the purchaser at the time of placing the order with you unless they have specifically accepted them
(5) It becomes messy if the other party spoke or wrote to you trying to alter the terms of your quotation and the outcome of such an exchange is not absolutely clear. This is known as "the battle of the papers" and frequently has to go to adjudication for resolution.