Conflict of Interest?

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by airhead
Many forget the purpose of a business, be it a game shop, a book store, a car dealership. The purpose is to make money. If a business does not make money, it ceases to be. Giving free time to the competion does not put more money in a cache register, quite the contrary, it puts money in the competion\'s cach register.

Tricky though. Depending on which state you live in, you may actually have to prove that the competition is gaining from his free time (and really, what if I choose to buy from a competitor isn\'t that the same?) or face a unlawful firing lawsuit.
(Not saying I agree with that, just that some employers have to be really careful about their firing practices. I personally, believe it should be as you say Airhead, I just know that certain areas are more nanny than others.)

 

[foosgoalie1]

So, you could not waitress at two different restaurants (far apart)? as an example. Like I said , a very grey area especially since its not involving big companies. Literally, there may be conflict but sensibly?

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Business is all about competition. There is no hard and fast rule here that I see other than if one store owner is petty enough to make an issue of it. You have no obligation to either store. What you do on your own time is your own business. Go for both of them. They would be, hopefully, bright enough to realize that you will be benefiting their store no matter where else you do similar classes.

 

[PegaZus]

I think the fact that the store you work in REFUSED your offer of holding a painting clinic is a big point in your favor. Just talk about how you love to help people learn to paint, and you had to find an outlet. I really don\'t think these two stores are in competition with each other.

And if anything, I\'d think the littler store has more to lose here. If the people attending the clinic find out that a better store is across town, wouldn\'t that hurt their sales?

 

[Severatus]

Becareful this boss of yours sounds like he has a personal problem with you.

Maybe he\'s a little pissed cause your a better painter - have social life - have your hair - have a girlfriend - are cool - have two opposable thumbz - Choose to work only one day - dont like him in that way he needs someone to like him .......

Serious, unless you have killer discounts going ( with an a hole like this I doubt he\'s that generous ) or you have to have conflict in your life I would limit your involvement with this OCD A Hole

Does the other girl know your working at this other girls house 1 day a week?

Oh im sorry were not talking major social taboo\'s ......

does the other store know that you work an hour a week at the Nazi Mart?

If so would they be put off? Sad? Feel slighted? Wonder what drove you away?

Serious if they have the wits the gods gave a goose they would give a Rats A R S E cause you a decent person....no issue.

If your crazy......it\'s an issue that needs to be raised.

Everyone know mental illness when you see it & leave the situation cause it will do you no good to speak sense to such Poorly hardwired Giant Baby Adults...

( AS everyone slowly steps away from )

Severatus...... Hit a nerve, reminds me of those a hole bosses when I was younger.

Haters

TH

 

[bullfrog]

the fact that you have already decided not to tell the owners about each other tells me you have already made your decision and answered the question yourself.

 

[foosgoalie1]

[No message]

 

[foosgoalie1]

Sorry bout the blank post.

The waitress is only an example.
The deadline set by my snitch coworker has passed but I havn\'t heard anything yet. The boss is a decent enough fellow. I\'m debating whether or not to discuss it with him myself regardless of anything my coworker may have said.
Thanks for all the opinions so far.
Mark

 

[Gussy]

Since they turned you down...that shouldn\'t be a problem. You can tell them you\'d stop only if they let you set up a clinic there...so work 2 days a week instead.

Originally posted by foosgoalie1
The store where I work already runs a clinic every Sunday and turned down my request a year ago. The two stores are on opposite sides of the city and the one where I work is actually the biggest store in North America (located in an actual warehouse, 2000+ sq.ft.) and the other store is a small one on a strip mall.

 

[EArkham]

Originally posted by airhead
Ever have to sign a no-compete clause? If I quit, I cannot go into the same field for one year.

Non-compete agreements are mostly smoke and scare tactics. It\'s illegal to deny someone a living wage in a profession that is their area of expertise.

I speak from experience. When I left my game design job, I mentioned to my ex-boss that I was probably going to use mini painting to at least supplement my income. He had the nerve to say \"let me check with our lawyers to make sure that painting minis for games doesn\'t conflict with the non-compete.\" Big WTF moment, given that we\'re talking about computer games and tabletop games.

Checked with a lawyer, and he basically laughed it off. Told me to completely ignore the non-compete; that it not only had no bearing on painting minis (obviously), but it also had no bearing even if I wanted to go directly to work for a competing game company.

Kep

 

[Yramrag]

I don\'t know the legal standing that you would be on, but where i work we have similar situations. When we work on large projects alliances are formed from several companies to deliver the end product. This ends up with employees from companies managing employees from rival companies. this means that they know the rates that person works for as well as other potential business secrets.
However the way this is dealt with is by what is known as \"The Chinese Wall\". The analogy is that you can\'t see through it but you can see shapes and shadows. In practice it means that i while i can see some details, i will choose to ignore them.
These are $300 million + projects so i think if that is good enough for them, then i would think it should be good enough for your situation given that every one is acting in a professional manner.

 

[Braveheart712]

As far as I am concerned there is no conflict of interest, here is why...

-You are only working one day a week, probably for less than 8 hrs at damn near minimum wage. This barely constitutes being employed, you are closer to paid consultant status than actual employee status.

-Let\'s put things in perspective, you are working at a freaking game store, not doing nuclear reactor work.

-Your other \"job\" is non paying therefore you have not violated any non competition clause that your employer may have implied that you have.

-Your loyalty to one store or another should be worth more than that. Personally buying my free will comes at a much higher price than what we are talking about.

-This is a wild guess but I bet you spend more money than you make at your paid \"job\", am I right? You are nothing more than a customer who works off his discount.

Don\'t get me wrong, I am not trying to demean your position or your concern but I have a very similar situation here. On saturdays I often go to one store here. I am friendly with the management, spend alot of money there, and have painted commission work for some of their games. On sundays I go to another store to play and hang out. There I am friendly with the owners, often work the counter, and I also spend money there as well. I have been asked by both places where I buy more, etc and the answer that I have given in quite simple. I am a gamer. I enjoy the hobby. I play at both places and spend money at both stores. This is how it is, and if you don\'t like it I can very easily spend all my money at the other place. I am interested in seeing both places survive since it is good for the hobby, but I will not be a pawn pulled in either direction. Since I spoke up we have had a good understanding. I want to see both places thrive, but in the end I want to enjoy the hobby I like. I see you as being in a very similar situation. There is no need to pick a side as long as you are being fair to both parties involved.

 

[foosgoalie1]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will take everything into consideration but really, if it comes down to it, I\'ll quit the PT before I stop the painting clinic. Thanks.