Is poaching employees illegal in the UK?

Injunction granted against ‘poaching and competing’ employee

Our associate solicitor in dispute resolution, Rebecca Armstrong, brings us an overview of this remarkable case which illuminates the complexities of the question – is poaching employees illegal in the UK?

In a landmark case, a UK-based logistics company, JM Solutions UK Ltd, successfully secured an injunction against a former employee named Dave, accused of employee poaching and working with a rival company.

JM Solutions UK Ltd, directed by two Romania-based individuals, faced a challenging situation when their office and sales manager, Dave, began underperforming in the post-Covid reopening period of May-June 2021. It became apparent that clients who were expected to return after pandemic-induced closure were not resuming their usual volume of work.

Around the same period, a significant number of JM’s drivers decided to end their contracts, and a competing business emerged, co-directed by Dave’s brother-in-law. In October 2021, Dave resigned, shortly after which the company found evidence of his involvement with the competitor.

The allegations included transferring JM’s work to the rival company, misleading JM’s clients about the company’s capacity to provide services, and working for the competitor while still under contract with JM. Interestingly, all traces of communication on Dave’s returned company phone were erased.

While Dave refuted the claims, the rival company pledged to respect confidential information boundaries and document preservation.

Despite these promises, the court sided with JM Solutions, granting an interim injunction to prevent Dave from breaching post-employment restrictive clauses and a springboard injunction to block him and the rival firm from exploiting JM’s confidential information.

This case highlights that while it may not always be illegal, poaching employees in the UK can lead to legal consequences if the act contravenes existing contracts, infringes upon non-competition, non-solicitation, or non-poaching covenants, or involves misuse of confidential information.

For further insight on the implications of employee poaching in the UK, speak to Rebecca Armstrong in our employment law team can be reached at 01228 516666.