My wife's an employee for a govt agency; part of her work is fulfilling a contract the agency has with a private organisation (only a few hours a week).
She intends to leave the agency to go it solo; that private organisation is keen on retaining her services, and are looking at contracting her directly at the point their contract with the govt agency runs out.
Are there any legal impediments in the way of this happening?
There are no restraint of trade restrictions in my wife's employee agreement, so I can't see why there'd be an issue - I'd have thought it's that private organisation's choice as to who it does business with. As long as my wife's careful to avoid using her employer's IP etc, yadda yadda, I'd have thought she was ok.
Of course, there may be something I'm missing here, so would appreciate people's thoughts/knowledge/experience (especially those of a legal bent, eg would appreciate your thoughts, @dejadeadnz). I'm sure some will suggest we talk to an employment lawyer, which may indeed be something we need to do if there are any real risks here - it's just knowing for sure if this is case (as lawyers don't come cheap!).
Also, does she need to be careful with timing raising issues of conflict of interest? For example, can she sign a contract for the work if she's still employed at the govt agency, even if the contract start date is after she leaves?
Thanks for any advice.