help leaving current eamployer

[calpolyholley]

i will be starting a new job and i want to bring some of the work i have done at my current employer to my new job. does anyone have any ideas or guidelines as to items i should or shouldn't copy and bring with me. specifically drawings, calculaitons, tech specs, etc? thanks.

 

[jaykm]

Hi there,

I would suggest not to carry any drawings. Some companies have a very strict rule about them.Specifically, I would not recommend taking any company specific standards Manuals and design intent.

Good Design/modeling/project management practices, calculation sheets etc should not cause any concerns.

The best bet would be to talk to your previous reporting manager and inform him what you intend to carry out along with you and let him decide.

Hope this helps and all the best for the new job!!
Jay

 

[zdas04]

If this question was in "Engineering Ethics", you'd probably get a slightly different spin on the answer, but most of the folks who go there come here as well so maybe not.

My feeling has always been that "if the company paid for it, then it is theirs". No wiggle room at all. Then I got close to retiring and starting my business and started lusting after all of the resources that I'd had at the big-oil company and wouldn't have in the tiny consulting company. About 6 weeks before I left, I sat down with my boss and had a frank and open discussion. Since my new business was in support of, not in competition with, my old company and industry he was incredibly generous in what he let me copy and take. On the flip side I agreed to "help out" my replacement for the 6-months that company policy prohibited my working for them. Both sides gained a lot and I've never felt bad about what I carried with me--but it was with the full understanding and agreement of my old company.

Had I been going to a competitor their response might have been quite different. The bottom line of this case is that anything you take without your old company's knowledge and approval is stealing. Anything you copy/take with their approval is goodwill. Ask First, if they say "no" then don't take it. The alternative is somewhere between generating considerable ill-will and prosecution for grand theft.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The Plural of "anecdote" is not "data"

 

[ctopher]

I would not take any drawings. The new employer could also see you as taking their dwgs if you planned to leave them in the future...and decide not to hire you.

 

[calpolyholley]

i agree that once the my "company paid for it, they own it", but my engineering stamp is on these drawings and specs and the i have liability associated with drawings i have stamped. i think i am entitled to hard copies of the drawings and specs that i am laible for.

 

[ctopher]

Aren't you only liable for as long as you are with the company? I'm not sure, but what I was told. Either way, is dangerous to take the drawings. Be careful.

 

[EngJW]

I wouldn't take any kind of written document, but if you have used procedures and methods that would be useful no matter where you work, you could put them in your head or take notes, and then later on write them down in your own words. If done with discretion and you don't copy word for word, there should not be a problem.

John Woodward

 

[GregLocock]

If I were leaving for a competitor then I would get escorted to the gate. I /think/ I'd be allowed to take my personal possessions with me.

I'd take nothing that is proprietary, nothing that has a company letterhead other than HR stuff.

Your question about stamped drawings is very interesting. At a guess I'd say you have stamped them on the company's behalf, so you have no right to take them.



Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[MintJulep]

When you were hired you probably signed something that spells this out.

 

[quark]

If I were you and willing to take the documents at any cost, then I don't discuss it in open.

Otherwise, I follow the advice of previous posts.

 

[IRstuff]

The fact that you're asking this question indicates that you are already uncomfortable with taking the documents and are looking for a rationalization to do so.

The caveat is that if you are indeed uncertain about it, then it's most likely to be wrong to take the documents in question, otherwise, there wouldn't be any question.

TTFN

 

[johnwiss]

most employers will let you take your email with you (an outlook archive). Be absolutely sure not to take any proprietary info that could be competition sensitive. Suppose you wrote a small program that does not exist in any product or proposal but was a calculation tool. It is very doubtful that the company would care much about it. They will care if you remove anything that is either not your property (stealing), can be used directly to violate your non-compete agreement, or anything proprietary or competition sensitive. Obviously you are leaving with more smarts than you came in with and it is very difficult to sue you for anything unless it is obvious you violated ethics.

 

[corus]

What you describe is classed as 'intellectual property' of your previous company and as such cannot be used by yourself at another company. That doesn't stop you from using the calculations, providing you remove the previous company name from them, of course. Drawings would be a definite no-no.

corus