Rogue employees: Rising number of businesses face theft of clients, data and trade secrets
Announcement posted by Invigorate PR 04 Feb 2026
Australian business owners are being warned that rogue employee behaviour is escalating, with staff leaving roles and allegedly taking customer lists, pricing data, supplier contacts and intellectual property with them, often to set up competing businesses or join direct rivals.
Legal experts at Jim's Legal say the issue is now one of the most common and damaging risks facing small and medium businesses.
"We are seeing behaviour that would shock many business owners," Jim's Legal cofounder Samuel Braithwaite said.
"Employees walking out overnight, downloading databases, contacting clients from personal phones and actively poaching customers before they've even resigned."
What businesses are actually facing
According to Jim's Legal, common scenarios include former staff:
- Copying or exporting client lists, CRMs and contact databases
- Taking supplier pricing and undercutting the business
- Using confidential systems, templates and processes to launch competitors
- Contacting clients while still employed to 'line up work'
- Setting up rival businesses within days of resigning
- Using company laptops, phones or logins after termination
- Claiming customers are 'theirs', not the business's
"In many cases, the employer doesn't even realise what's happened until revenue collapses," Braithwaite said.
Weak contracts are leaving businesses defenceless
Braithwaite said the majority of affected businesses have outdated, generic or non-existent employment contracts, leaving them legally exposed.
"Without enforceable confidentiality, IP ownership and restraint clauses, business owners often have no practical recourse," he said.
"By the time lawyers are called, the damage is already done."
He warned that goodwill, often a business's most valuable asset, is the easiest thing to steal and the hardest to recover.
Loyalty is not a legal strategy
Braithwaite said many business owners wrongly assume long-term staff or 'good culture' will protect them.
"Trust is important, but contracts protect livelihoods," he said.
"Employment law exists for a reason and ignoring it is a gamble."
Jim's Legal relaunch is already proving extremely popular among business owners and households.
The warning comes as Jim's Group relaunches Jim's Legal nationally, offering accessible, affordable legal services to businesses and individuals.
Led by Brendan Long and cofounder Samuel Braithwaite, Jim's Legal provides expert support across employment law, commercial contracts, disputes, debt recovery, lease contracts and leasing issues and compliance.
"Our goal is to help business owners protect themselves before things go wrong," Braithwaite said.
"Prevention is always cheaper than litigation."
A trusted brand stepping into legal protection
Founder of Jim's Group, Jim Penman, said the expansion reflects the brand's commitment to supporting small businesses.
"People build businesses over years," Penman said.
"They shouldn't lose them because of weak legal foundations."
The bottom line
"If employees can access your customers, systems or data and your contracts haven't been reviewed, you are exposed," Braithwaite said.
"In today's environment, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen."
About Jim's Legal
Jim's Legal is a fresh launch of the division within Jim's Group, providing Australians with accessible, affordable and trustworthy legal services across all major areas of law. Led by respected industry professionals, Brendan Long and Samuel Braithwaite, Jim's Legal specialises in family law, commercial and business law, conveyancing, property law, wills and estates, employment,
consumer law, litigation and more. The division combines expert legal guidance with the trusted service and national reach of the Jim's brand.
About Jim's Group
Jim's Group was founded by Jim Penman in 1989 and now has some 5,550 franchisees in more than 50 divisions. It is the largest franchise chain in the Southern Hemisphere.