Följer du med till min nya arbetsgivare? - Kundklausuler i konsultbranschen utifrån ett rättsekonomiskt analysperspektiv
(2016) LAGF03 20161Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Under anställningsperioden skyddar lojalitetsplikten arbetsgivaren från konkurrens av sina anställda. När anställningen upphör får arbetstagaren i princip fritt konkurrera med arbetsgivaren. Konkurrensklausuler kan förenklat sägas förlänga lojalitetsplikten att gälla efter anställningens upphörande.
Det har på senare tid blivit vanligare med alternativ till de traditionella konkurrensklausulerna i anställningsavtal eftersom dessa i många fall bedömts som oskäliga enligt 38 § AvtL. Kundklausuler utgör en form av konkurrensklausuler, som endast syftar till att förhindra den anställde från att ta med arbetsgivarens kunder till en annan arbetsgivare eller egen verksamhet. Kundklausuler behöver inte uppfylla samma krav då de endast... (More) - Under anställningsperioden skyddar lojalitetsplikten arbetsgivaren från konkurrens av sina anställda. När anställningen upphör får arbetstagaren i princip fritt konkurrera med arbetsgivaren. Konkurrensklausuler kan förenklat sägas förlänga lojalitetsplikten att gälla efter anställningens upphörande.
Det har på senare tid blivit vanligare med alternativ till de traditionella konkurrensklausulerna i anställningsavtal eftersom dessa i många fall bedömts som oskäliga enligt 38 § AvtL. Kundklausuler utgör en form av konkurrensklausuler, som endast syftar till att förhindra den anställde från att ta med arbetsgivarens kunder till en annan arbetsgivare eller egen verksamhet. Kundklausuler behöver inte uppfylla samma krav då de endast marginellt inskränker arbetstagarens yrkesmöjligheter, vilket passar konsultföretag då kundrelationerna är väldigt viktiga.
Det finns dock situationer, som uppstått där kundklausuler inneburit en inte endast marginell inskränkning av arbetstagarens yrkesmöjligheter, vilka har medfört oskälighet.
Skälighetsbedömningen sker genom en helhetsbedömning av omständigheterna i det enskilda fallet. Domstolen ser till en flertal omständigheter som påverkar bedömningen, men av störst vikt är arbetsgivarens skyddsintresse och arbetstagarens yrkesmöjligheter.
Inom skälighetsbedömningen av kundklausuler ryms främst avtalsparternas intressen. Det finns dock exempel i praxis som talar för att allmänintresset av sund konkurrens skulle kunna påverka bedömningen. Inom advokatbranschen påverkar kundens fria val av advokat bedömningen.
Skyddet för upparbetade kundrelationer är förmodligen ett verktyg som kan hjälpa till att bygga stora stabila konsultbolag. Dessa företag kan utnyttja skalfördelar, vilket gynnar marknaden, så länge konsultbolagen inte blir för stora och kan agera som monopolister.
I det rättsekonomiska analysperspektivet finns det både argument för och emot kundklausuler. Det blir en avvägning mellan konkurrensmöjligheter och stabilitet. Sammantaget finner jag dock att många hänseenden av skälighetsbedömningen av kundklausuler ligger i linje med vad som får anses vara ekonomisk effektivt. (Less) - Abstract
- During the period of employment the duty of loyalty protects the employer from competition of its employees. When the employment ends the employee is in essence free to compete with the employer. Non-compete clauses can simplified be said to extend the duty of loyalty after the end of the employment.
Recently alternatives to the traditional non-compete clauses have become more common in contracts of employment due to the fact that they have in many cases been assessed as unreasonable according to 38 § AvtL. Customer clauses constitute a form of non-competition clauses which aim to prevent the employee from bringing the employers customers to another employer or their own business. Customer clauses do not need to meet the same... (More) - During the period of employment the duty of loyalty protects the employer from competition of its employees. When the employment ends the employee is in essence free to compete with the employer. Non-compete clauses can simplified be said to extend the duty of loyalty after the end of the employment.
Recently alternatives to the traditional non-compete clauses have become more common in contracts of employment due to the fact that they have in many cases been assessed as unreasonable according to 38 § AvtL. Customer clauses constitute a form of non-competition clauses which aim to prevent the employee from bringing the employers customers to another employer or their own business. Customer clauses do not need to meet the same requirements since they only marginally restrict the employees professional opportunities, which fits consulting firms since customer relations are very important. However, there have been situations where customer clauses have resulted in not only a marginal restriction of the employee’s professional opportunities, which have resulted in the clauses being found unreasonable.
The fairness of a clause is determined by an overall assessment of the circumstances in the individual case. The court observes a variety of circumstances affecting the assessment, but of greatest importance are the employer's security interest and the employee's professional opportunities.
The fairness assessment of customer clauses consists mostly of the contracting parties interests. There are however cases which suggest that public interest in fair competition could affect the assessment. Within the Swedish Bar Association the client’s free choice of lawyer affects the assessment.
The protection of established customer relationships is probably a tool that can help build large and stable consulting companies. These companies can achieve economies of scale, which benefits the market as long as the consulting firms are not too large and can act as monopolists.
In the law and economics perspective there are arguments both for and against customer clauses. It is a consideration of competition and stability. Overall I find that many aspects of the fairness assessment of customer clauses are in line with what may be considered economically effective. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8874379
- author
- Holmgren Ivarsson, Oskar LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Arbetsrätt, Avtalsrätt, Rättsekonomi, Konkurrensklausuler, Värvningsklausuler, Icke-värvningsklausuler, Kundklausuler, 38 § AvtL, Skälighet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8874379
- date added to LUP
- 2016-07-04 11:52:07
- date last changed
- 2016-07-04 11:52:07
@misc{8874379,
abstract = {{During the period of employment the duty of loyalty protects the employer from competition of its employees. When the employment ends the employee is in essence free to compete with the employer. Non-compete clauses can simplified be said to extend the duty of loyalty after the end of the employment.
Recently alternatives to the traditional non-compete clauses have become more common in contracts of employment due to the fact that they have in many cases been assessed as unreasonable according to 38 § AvtL. Customer clauses constitute a form of non-competition clauses which aim to prevent the employee from bringing the employers customers to another employer or their own business. Customer clauses do not need to meet the same requirements since they only marginally restrict the employees professional opportunities, which fits consulting firms since customer relations are very important. However, there have been situations where customer clauses have resulted in not only a marginal restriction of the employee’s professional opportunities, which have resulted in the clauses being found unreasonable.
The fairness of a clause is determined by an overall assessment of the circumstances in the individual case. The court observes a variety of circumstances affecting the assessment, but of greatest importance are the employer's security interest and the employee's professional opportunities.
The fairness assessment of customer clauses consists mostly of the contracting parties interests. There are however cases which suggest that public interest in fair competition could affect the assessment. Within the Swedish Bar Association the client’s free choice of lawyer affects the assessment.
The protection of established customer relationships is probably a tool that can help build large and stable consulting companies. These companies can achieve economies of scale, which benefits the market as long as the consulting firms are not too large and can act as monopolists.
In the law and economics perspective there are arguments both for and against customer clauses. It is a consideration of competition and stability. Overall I find that many aspects of the fairness assessment of customer clauses are in line with what may be considered economically effective.}},
author = {{Holmgren Ivarsson, Oskar}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Följer du med till min nya arbetsgivare? - Kundklausuler i konsultbranschen utifrån ett rättsekonomiskt analysperspektiv}},
year = {{2016}},
}