Unauthorised Secondary Employment | Non-Compete Clause

You want motivated, attentive and efficient employees, but one of your staff members appears overtired, careless and unfocused? They may be engaging in unauthorised secondary employment, possibly even with a competing company. The IHK-certified corporate investigators of Kurtz Detective Agency Wuppertal observe the individual and provide legally admissible proof of any secondary activities: +49 202 5289 0063.

Secondary jobs often negatively affect primary employment

A decline in an employee’s performance can have various causes: physical or mental illness, personal problems preventing proper sleep, conflicts with colleagues, and so on. Due to these obstacles, the employee may not be motivated, well-rested or clear-headed at work, and their performance suffers accordingly. In such cases, a clarifying and considerate discussion with the individual is usually effective; the employee feels understood and often returns to work with renewed vigour.

It is different when performance drops due to an unauthorised secondary job. Anyone working two jobs logically has less time to rest, leaving them depleted and unable to perform effectively. Perhaps the employee works in field sales and literally misses customer appointments, upsetting clients or prospects, resulting in lost revenue and damage to the company’s reputation.

Competitive activities during ongoing employment are legally prohibited

Most employers tolerate a secondary job as long as it does not affect the primary employment. However, if the employer explicitly forbids a secondary activity and the employee undertakes it anyway, they are breaching their employment contract. If the employee works for a competitor, they also violate the non-compete clause, which under § 60 HGB is interpreted consistently in practice to mean that employees may not work for a competitor or establish their own business in competition with their main employer during the term of employment.

Our qualified corporate investigators in Wuppertal provide legally admissible proof of such violations of the employment contract or general law. Send us a non-binding email at kontakt@kurtz-detektei-wuppertal.de to explain your case, or call us.

Legally admissible evidence of unauthorised employment

If you suspect an employee of engaging in additional work for a competitor or running their own competing business alongside their main role, it is advisable to have this documented legally by objective and professional investigators, as our private detectives do. In most cases, this is achieved through multi-day surveillance: the suspect is observed over a predetermined or variably set period by our Wuppertal detectives, and the results are recorded both in writing and visually.

We provide case-specific advice on investigative measures available when a non-authorised secondary job is suspected, to apprehend the individual and provide you with legally admissible evidence. Use our contact form or call us on +49 202 5289 0063. We will explain the options relevant to your case without obligation.