I do tech support. There are a lot of websites out there, some free, some not, which provide services for tech support agents: screen shots, solutions, forums, modem documentation. However, none of them provide wuite what I want, and I'd like to give back to the tech support community(*) what I've learned. So, my goal was to develop a similar website, but more inclusive, and which didn't repeat already existing resources.
Version 2 is a vast improvement. But it wouldn't let me make my tech support site, because a lawyer could grab any money I might have made from ad sales and the like. But I don't work for the company I do tech support for. I'm a contractor for a call center. At any point I could be transfered to handling credit card phone calls, or telemarketing (blech). If the company puts the work of their clients under the umbrella, I could get severly limited. But my contract specifies that the technology that my employer owns is that technology related to the efficient operation of a call center, limited to phone systems, ticket tracking, and some specific kinds of network software. That's it. So my support site is legit.
Since you're going into R and D your in a somewhat more precarious boat. But I think a few well placed generalities will protect most home projects you might go into, while at the same time keeping you a good canidate for you employer.
Also: dws is right on target. The company is being malicious (yet anyway :-). Get all your prior work grandfathered, and be sure that your company is assured that you can't use proprietory information. That should cover things nicely.
* Yes, there really is such a thing.
Cheers,
Erik
Light a man a fire, he's warm for a day. Catch a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life. - Terry Pratchet
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In that case, join SAGE-AU and ask for advice. SAGE-AU is the Australian branch of SAGE, the System Administrators Guild. But they're not picky - they take programmers too :).
Someone at SAGE should be able to guide you in the right direction. If you don't want to go down that route, slap down $100 for an initial consultation with a lawyer. We don't run under the same rules as the states - Australia is a more socialist country, with more protections for workers.
If you are a contractor, you can contact the ACCC or other professional organisations (since you will be in a business transaction). If you are becoming an employee, then you can probably start at the industrial relations department in your state. If that's the wrong department, then they can tell you who to call.
Check to see if there are any 'awards' or enterprise agreements covering the company you are working for.
____________________
Jeremy
I didn't believe in evil until I dated it. | [reply] |
