This organization has had employees sign something saying they will not have contact with the clients they did caregiving for after they leave the employment of this company. Since there is a former caregiver my friends had I know would like to visit them (I strongly believe she was let go from the company since she wanted to get a senior advocate for my friends-and maybe other clients as well). I was just wondering if the company could actually legally enforce this.
Legally, I believe it’s unenforceable. The cost of pursuing a lawsuit against this for the employer is steep & in my knowledge has never been pursued.
I was a dialysis center nurse manager in my day- we had employees sign those non competes so they couldn’t work for the competition. But once the CG was not an employee the contract became null & void.
Legally I am not sure her old employer can hold that aide from seeing her old patient once she has left their employment.
As another said, it’s a gray area but IMO uninforceable & the caregiver can visit anyone they want. Employers won’t spend money to enforce it if it’s questionably legal.
It May be quite awkward for the CG but it’s her right to visit who she wants as long as she wasn’t fired and banned from the agency property.
If she was fired & that was a discussion at her termination that she not visit company property that may be enforceable however. But in my opinion only to have said ex-employee escorted from the building & yes if she refuses to leave her employer can sue. If this happens the employer can have a restraining order placed in the ex-employee which is enforceable.
Ask her if when she was terminated was she told to stay away. If so then have her think twice.
The answer is yes and no. I will explain. The agency's main goal is to prevent competition. Prevent employees from quitting just to privately care for that same person. In reality most home health aids make better money doing private pay jobs.
We typically had employees sign various types of non-competitive clauses banning them from using our patient list as a personal means to get side work. Having access to our patients is protected under HIPPA. If that employee was not with the company they would never know Sally Sue needed nursing care.
It's also done to protect the patients from predatory behaviors from people who might exploit that need. And it's done to prevent workers from approaching every client offering the same service $x dollars cheaper if agreed to do privately.
Having said that. If a client/patient chooses to share personal information that is their choice. Once an employee leaves ,the previous employer has no control over them.
It's the profit loss agencies care most about, not the friendships developed. The wiggle room is there but is still a fine line as well. That is why I said yes and no.
If a personal aide was with you a long time and moved on to a different company. It's almost cruel to suddenly cut that off depending on the people involved.
A visit should be no problem. Just don't have any other employees of that agency around when you do.
And meeting at Starbucks for coffee in public where you could have just bumped into each other randomly :) , can not be challenged.
Most of the time once someone leaves we move on to filling the position. We give the speech, but honestly, it's the minority of people that ever become problems.
I wouldn't worry too much. An absolute ban is not possible legally and would be hard pressed to be enforced comprehensively.
Hope that helps. I am no lawyer, but that has been my medical field HR experience anyway.
I kind of work in the industry (Ok, I'm a paralegal working in a law firm that does elder law, but certainly NOT an expert or able to give legal advice). A lot of times I get calls from family members who have concerns about the caregivers who are getting, shall I say, "overly familiar" with their clients. It gets particularly ugly when the caregiver marries the client. The clients are often vulnerable, and in particular most vulnerable to the persons providing them care on a daily basis. I get calls from families where a caregiver has tried to insinuate themselves into the finances going so far as to get Power of Attorney and adding themselves on to accounts or having the client name them as a "pay on death" beneficiary on accounts. We also get calls from children just finding out that their parent essentially left everything to the caregiver in their will or trust, confused and bewildered how that happened.
My own boss has 24/7 care for her husband. Caregivers have asked for money. One still calls even years later after she stopped being his caregiver to ask for favors and money for some emergency she has. When a relief caregiver passed away suddenly (not while on the job), his family contacted my boss to ask if she would pay for the funeral or to help send his remains overseas to his home country. Another asked for help in getting them divorced from their spouse in another country.
I'm saying this for perspective. I'm sure your friend has very fond feelings for the caregiver. But I think you have to see this from other points of view. The company does not want to risk getting involved in litigation from a family that hired them and maybe even fired the caregiver for overstepping the line of professionalism. I understand that it is very easy for the caregiver and client to form a bond when spending so much time together. But these policies are to protect the company AND the client. It tries to ensure that there is a professional distance between client and caregiver. It is a job, afterall. It's ok to care for your client and for the client to appreciate the care. But there is a professional line that has to be maintained so that it doesn't turn from being a caregiver into being an abuser, even unintentionally. Not all, or even most, caregivers cross this line. But it happens frequently enough to keep our phones ringing.
Whether or not you suspect any abuse or inappropriate actions by the caregiver, I just wanted to provide some additional perspective as to "why" those rules are in place.
Better to keep a professional relationship with the finer staff for everyone’s protection. Staff has been known to lose their professional license if the client would accuse them of stealing, etc.
Also, people who work in service industries can deal with many clients and although your friends may regard her as more than a former employee it is possible that she doesn't feel the same way and is using this contract clause as a way to create distance between them and terminate the relationship.
Thanks cwillie for capturing that piece. I do think some of us were a bit confused about the question. Great point!
I have never heard of a clause that says you can't even speak to or socialize with a client or competitor. That doesn't sound enforceable to me. If the caregiver wants to challenge it, they would probably be successful.