Sentry Private Investigators Ltd
Moonlighting Private Investigations Birmingham & U.K
Sentry Private Investigators Ltd offer expert surveillance investigations to evidence suspicions on Moonlighting
Moonlighting Investigations and Working for Competitors
A moonlighting private investigation is a service provided by SPI to determine whether a member of staff is working a second job without their employers knowledge. Employers may suspects a member of staff is using company resources including time and equipment for their second job role which could lead to conflicts of interest, reduced productivity and other issues. During the investigation SPI will conduct covert surveillance and interviews with coworkers and supervisors if necessary to gather evidence of the moonlighting activity. Employers should have clear policies and guidelines in place regarding moonlighting, which should be communicated to employees and enforced consistently. Moonlighting investigation services are an effective solution to combat such concerns within a business. With the recent increase of employees working from home, it is becoming a much bigger problem than it was just a few years ago. Employees working from home are deceitfully finding ways to work 2nd, and even 3rd jobs when they should be devoting their time and effort in accordance with their contracts.
Client Poaching
In some cases, employee's could be poaching clients and investors whilst undercutting your business. An employee who is doing this will know full well he or she is in breach of contract. The practice of moonlighting involves deception and some very careful thinking to remain undetected. There will be high volumes of Email correspondents which can be tricky to monitor for an employer, but not impossible. Moonlighting usually involve meetings in person which the employee will try to do discreetly. Cases like these can be very complex if the employee thinks about his or her every move. That being said, our moonlighting investigations have high success rates in proving these cases in favour of the employer. As a result, our moonlighting investigations have prevented many business's from financial and reputational ruin.
Tell-Tail Behaviours to Begin Moonlighting Investigations
Moonlighting can be very difficult to spot from the offset especially if the employee is working from home. However, we have put together a list of behaviours to look out for and some effective ways of defending your business from any moonlighting concerns. If these signs are spotted early on, you can defend your business from contractual breaches which could damage future trading prospects. To contact a private investigator to conduct a moonlighting investigation, email us directly at info@sentryprivateinvestigators.co.uk should you wish to discuss your concerns in more detail.
Absence
Is your employee taking an unusual amount time off at the moment? This could be for genuine reasons but it could also be to meet with future (your) clients for personal gain. Your employee could also be taking paid time off work to simply work for another business, but generally clients or investors prefer to meet in person to build trust and relations. Look into this, and question employees if the absences are occurring more and more frequently.
Questions Out of Turn
Is your employee suddenly asking lots of technical product questions out of turn? It may be he or she genuinely wants to know something about a product, but if the questions don’t seem to fit the current environment or conversations, he or she could be collecting product secrets to share with competitors. Question the questions. Ask why your employee wants to know that right now.
Shared Access
It is advisable to share email account access with teams for purposes of productivity. The main reason for this is to pick up the slack during absences etc, but it may be a powerful form of evidence if your employee is communicating with clients or investors inappropriately. This is not full proof as the employee can quite simply communicate via other email accounts, but it's something to consider. Shared access can also be a way of monitoring what system files are being opened and shared. This is a much stronger form of defence because a business can simply observe when and where confidential documents have been accessed.
Loss of Clients
Are you suddenly losing clients or employees unexpectedly? If this happens, find out why. It may simply be that they are moving on, but it could be an employee of yours is poaching them for their own business interests. Question your associates to find out why they are moving on from your business.
Recruitment
This is the very first form of defence. A CV can paint someone very differently to who they actually are. Ensure you check references and even consider our background checks. Many businesses fail to follow up on references which could have saved them from some serious problems down the line. A reference could in fact paint a potential employee with their true colours from the offset giving you a much better idea of who you are dealing with. During the stages of interview, really get to know the applicant. Try and get an understanding of past employment, and future plans. Ask detailed questions and don't just listen to the answer, observe how they answer.
Contract
The next form of defence is a carefully written contract and non-disclosure agreement (NDA). This will put things in place from the start, and highlight what you expect as an employer. Should an employee be in breach of contract at any point, you will already have a prepared legal standing to file proceedings.
Communication
Effective communication is a key element to any successful business. Now, as more and more employees are taking advantage of working from home opportunities, communication has never been more important. Some companies just check to see if employees have logged onto their systems and leave it at that. Management needs to be in regular communication with employees that work from home by simply calling them or even visiting them. If management has suspicions that an employee is not working his or her contractual hours from home, tactical lines of questioning needs to be considered when speaking to the employee.
Standards of Our Moonlighting Investigations
Professional
Our corporate moonlighting investigation services are delivered with integrity and professionalism on all accounts
Ethical
Our private investigations are conducted with robust ethical standards and accountability at all levels
Compliant
The moonlighting corporate investigation services we provide are in compliance with UK privacy and data protection laws
Quality
A quality service at a cost effective price is what we deliver with both our private investigations and corporate investigations
Get in Touch With a Corporate Investigator
As mentioned, it can be difficult to spot a potential case of moonlighting, but if you have any suspicions it is advised to call in a local private investigator. A gut feeling can be the thing that saves your business from ruin. It is your business and livelihood so you must protect it.
SPI are Birmingham based private investigators with coverage across the Midlands, East of England and London. Contact us today for your free, no obligation consultation.