One of my ladies has tried to poach work from a client

[jampots]

I have a cleaning business and after a false start I am now getting it off the ground. A couple of the ladies who work for me tend to work as a team. Whilst at a job on Friday my client mentioned to the ladies that she would like to pay for her sisters house to be cleaned. They saw this as an excellent opportunity to try and get the job for themselves and suggested it to the client mentioning that she could get it for less money. Luckily for me the client said she couldnt do that as she uses my company for which i am very grateful. would you sack the one who suggested it (and has been identified by teh client)

I'm afriad I probably would - for gross misconduct. Horrible I know, but you would never be able to trust that she won't do it again. Unless of course you find it difficult to get good staff and are happy with her, then I would put her on a final written warning.

i agree with scary sue, i would either sack her or give her a final written warning. as my mum says you never bite the hand that feeds you, and she has tried doing just that. It will also teach the others they cant get away with things like that. good luck.

it doesn't need to be part of hte contract - there is an implied term of contract in all employment relationships that you will act in good faith to the company, which your employees have clearly broken. if they have more than 12 months service you'll want to have a proper disciplinary otherwise you run the risk of an unfair dismissal due process. if they have less than 12 months then I'd probably call them in and sack them for gross misconduct. Especially if you're relatively new business you need to be absolutely clear about expectations now - remember you're not there to win a popularity contest!