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Dealing w/ Relocation Package Bait and Switch?
An anonymous reader asks: "I got a R&D job offer with a large company in Philadelphia area last week. It includes a relocation package that they told me was standard for my position. After I accepted the offer and made plans to terminate my current job, the recruiter handed me off to their relocation department, where I was told that my relocation package is significantly less than what I was promised. The relocation manager tells me that whenever there is conflict between their relocation policy and the offer, their internal relocation policy supersedes. Is this type of switch-and-bait common practice in corporate America? If you have gone through this nightmare before, any advice on how to respond to it?"
what anyone else would do, and post the name of the company on Slashdot.
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I think you're screwed.
http://packetnexus.com
I would seriously consider not taking the job if they don't try to fix it quickly. If they're going to screw you over before you've even started, imagine what they'll do once you're there.
FWIW, I took a job cross country about a year and a half ago that included a relocation package. They handled it very professionally, and followed through with everything that they had promised. So far, it's been a good company to work for.
I've never run into a problem like that. However, if I were in a situation like that and had already quit my previous position, I would probably
1) take the job
2) start job-hunting immediately
3) see if this was an anomaly or business-as-usual for a company without a moral compass.
If it's business-as-usual I'd jump ship as soon as I got another job.
If it's an anomaly I'd work from within to make sure this never happened to anyone else.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Go ask a lawyer.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Was the offer made in writing? If so, they are obligated to honor it and you'll need to take whatever steps you deem prudent to see that they do. Taking a new employer to court might start things off on the wrong foot, but you shouldn't let them walk all over you especially if it's a larger company. Check into whether or not there are any government agencies who can intervene on your behalf. If the offer wasn't in writing, you're probably screwed for the most part.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
If you have something in writting, you should be able to hold them to it. Of course, you have to wonder about the company if their first offical act is to screw you over.
A treat to eat, in a puppet that's neat!
Why would you trust a company that makes these opening moves? My take on it is that use as a selection method and what they most need is sheeple that do not squeal too hard when they get done in the *rse. By screwing them even before they take the job they are weeding out theones that would. But be shure to tell the recruiter that this is why you are declining his offer. If it was an honest mistake he should be able to get it fixed, otherwise he will just don't care.
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
This hurts you personally, but if I were in your shoes, and I was able, I would refuse the job offer. I know it isn't an answer anyone wants to hear, but if everyone did this, it would be extremely effective at stopping this kind of manipulation! The problem of course, is that few of us are able to do this, as most of us live hand to mouth, with little savings. And lets face it, the IT industry isn't as fertile as it was even recently.
Perhaps the next best thing to do would be to publicize the companies with these kinds of practices. That is also very risky, since the company can then turn around and fire you without a reason, and I expect most would do that. So perhaps you don't publicize this practice until you have procured another job.
Perhaps you can talk to a lawyer, but I expect there is little that can be done legally, unless you have a contract which spelled out what you were actually promised...
At the very least you should consider looking for another job. Any company with these kinds of practices won't stop at the relocation packages they promise. I would expect more of this kind of behaviour, and by staying you are rewarding this kind of practice.
Before you peg yourself as someone who's unreasonable to work with --
Contact the person who originally told you about the relocation package, and tell them that the 'Relocation Manager' isn't offering the same thing. Ask them to deal with the issue, or make a counter offer and tell them what you're willing to take in exchange for the lower package (eg, higher pay, alternative benefits).
I've gotten the bait & switch on jobs before (my second day on the job, job responsibilities changed dramatically)-- my suggestion is deal with it as soon as possible, but don't become adversarial with the HR department -- have the person who hired you deal with them.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
There's that, but an earlier step that's also missing in almost all of these questions is -- did you ask anyone before flying off the handle and coming here? In this case, did you go back to the recruiter and ask him what's going on and whether he can untangle it?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Burn the building down.
While everyone seems to want you to quit, sue, or play hardball, they're not the ones in the middle of it.
So why not try talking to the hiring manager first? It could be that someone doing the relocation is just taking their duties a little too seriously.
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
Call the VP or Human Resources and tell him what happened. Chances are he'll be furious that this is happening and straighten out the recruiter or whomever gave you the wrong information. He'll probably also be able to arrange an exception to give you what you expected, or at least a compromise. No large company would do this as a matter of policy. No one wants employees who feel cheated; they don't work hard and might steal from the company.
Even if you have it in writing, this first taste of the job is already quite sour. If you do have it in writing, do you really want to work for this company?
If you don't have it in writing, talk to the person that extended you the original offer. Depending on what they do, you may or may not decide to take it/stay. Make sure whatever you agree to is in writing. Basically, any company that did something like this would be way in the hole and would have to work to keep any reasonable person.
If you haven't quit your old job, or you gave notice but haven't left and they're really sorry to see you go, indicate you might be interested in staying. This would involve playing the "what can you do for me" game. You certainly don't want to be honest about why you're reconsidering. Say something to your boss along the lines of "I would have liked to have seen project X to completion. It is going to be great!" or something like that. Perhaps they can sweeten your current job and you can both save face and your sanity by "accepting" the offer.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
If it's a genuine case of the offers being different, as you say, do not under any circumstances work there unless it is resolved to your satisfaction. Tell them up front. It might be an honest mistake, but it establishes a bad precedent, and sours the relationship from the start.
So write this out and send it off:
Dear Big Company,
I'm afraid the apparent change in conditions of my employment makes it impossible for me to accept the job. While I understand and appreciate that this difference may be an honest mistake, no effort to provide an explanation has been given, and this issue has soured our relationship. While I incur great personal hardship in making this decision at this date, I cannot in good faith accept work for a company that unilaterally changes the terms of my employment.
If you need to, spend a couple hundred bucks on getting a lawyer to write it up for you.
First, you describe it as a 'nightmare'. Is this a deal-breaker, or not, for you?
If it's not, and you'd honestly take the job even without the better relocation package, then your goal is just to try to negotiate, right?
If it IS a DEFINITE deal-breaker, call them up and tell them that, bluntly but softly: "I'm sorry, but that's what I was promised. I don't want to cause any trouble, but for me right now this is definitely a deal-breaker. Please talk to whoever you need to talk to," get info on how long it will take them to make a decision and arrange to call back, and then call back.
If it's not a definite deal-breaker but you want to negotiate, the procedure is the same, but use softer wording.
"Bob, you told me that there was [blah] to help me get there and get going, and they're telling me [blahrg]. I'm just really concerned, and I wanted to let you know where I'm at with this. I'm really excited about coming on board with you guys, and I'm really looking forward to it, but my situation right now is that without an adequate relocation package like the one you described, it just might not make sense for either of us."
Also, mention to them that there are two ways that this is bad -- first, that the financial hit you'd take from the lower relocation package is enough to make taking the position a lot less attractive. But second, that taking that hit -- a substantial financial penalty -- is enough of a negative for you that it just might not make sense to start off what you *had* hoped would be a long and mutually rewarding career by being asked to take a big financial penalty.
You didn't quit your job yet, right? You haven't yet taken a dump on your supervisor's desk, right? So you can survive. If your prospective new bosses react to these kinds of reasonable concerns unreasonably, you're better off where you are, so expressing your concerns can only help you.
Go ask a lawyer.
*looks over previous Ask Slashdots*
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I can see why this comment was marked "insightful"
Note: This is intended to be funny. It actually appears that "ask a lawyer" is a reasonable answer to quite a few Ask Slashdots.
This guy's the limit!
That while many posting here think the company is screwing this person, maybe the fault really lies in the hiring manager. Quite often the hiring manager may make promises or say things they don't have a clue about.
In any of these questions there are not enough facts to really figure out what happened. Yes, while this person accepting the new job may get screwed don't jump to the conclusion that the company is backstabbing and that the new employee should quit. This just might be some dumb manager who doesn't have a clue--or maybe a smart manager who didn't get the email on what the standard relocation package is now. There is way too much missing information.
Legally, there may or may not be a contract. You can have a verbal contract which is binding, however, the hard part is proving the existence and details of the contract. Also, the newly hired employee might have a claim for induced reliance--the company induced him to quit his or her old job (maybe, because we really don't know when things happened) and because of that promise of relocation money he is out of a job. There is a potential claim here, but there is so much more that is needed before the new employee heads off to court.
Like someone pointed out he should go back to the hiring manager and find out if they can do anything. But the real lesson is that you don't quit your old job before you have all the details of the new job worked out first.
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Take the job, learn all of their internal systems and processes, steal them blind. Bonus points if you can frame the guy who hired you.
If you get caught, insist on a management position. You'll likely get it.
Run, don't walk, out the door.
This kind of bullshit is endemic to a company, if you have to deal with it here, you'll have to deal with it once you get there and start working. This is how you end up stuck in a job you hate, and stuck in the city they moved you to.
From a contract point of view, his claim is utterly false. It dosen't matter if it's not in writing, since you relied on the promise, it was reasonably foreseeable that you would do so, and this has harmed you - but that means suing your employer. That never ends well.
Seriously, don't work for these people.
-GiH
I will tell you a related story. I was a consultant on an open-ended contract for 2.5 years. The company re-organized and I was given less than two weeks to either take a 30% pay cut or leave. I immediately started looking for other work, but stuck around for a couple of months while I found a new position. The one thing I did do was to calmly, rationally let everyone that was in a similar position know what had happened. After I left, they gave a whole group of consultants (about 20 people) the same ultimatum. Since they were prepared for the new offer from my story, all of them resigned, simultaneously. The company back-pedaled on the ultimatum and allowed those consultants to stay on under their current terms. It was still detrimental to the company, however, because 10 of the 20 left anyway.
Several of those 20 people thanked me for sharing my troubles because they were better prepared. The details of your experience may help someone else not make the same mistake later. It may even make the business involved change their practices.
Still, with a plan, you only get the best you can imagine. I'd always hoped for something better than that. -CP
thats simply not true. typical liberal entitlement mentality
It's wrong to think that you're entitled to something that somebody, reasonably empowered to do so, told you were going to get, in writing? Can you please explain that logic to me? Apparently somebody else agrees with you too, as you're currently +1 Insightful.
If a liberal mentality means refusing to be screwed over by an employer that can't get it's representatives on the same page with regards your compensation, then I'm happy to be a liberal. I guess conservatives are happy with being compensated at less than the agreed on rate? Or was I simply trolled?
--
$tar -xvf
Uh, did everyone forget Hanlon's Razor?
Make a polite phone call to the person who made the original offer and tell them what happened. Maybe they can straighten things out. If they can't fix it, or they don't admit they promised it, you have learned something useful about a possible future employer with no risk to yourself or reputation.
-Jeff
That you quit. Right now. They may promise you more money, more women, more booze, anything to make you accept the offer while look for someone else that is "less trouble". Trust me, you don't want to work for them. If they screw you around before you even start, then they will be even worse when you actually turn up. You will probably be miserable there anyway. If you are still unsure what to do, go out for a beer with you new co-workers. After a few drinks, you will be in a much better position to gauge the mood of the workforce. Something tells me it won't be positive.
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
Step 1. Call your new boss and tell him: 1. The company is refusing to honor the terms of the offer, and 2. If the company does not honor the terms of the offer, your acceptance is rescinded. Wait 48 hours and find out if he has good news for you.
Step 2. Call the HR Director, tell him you're hopping mad and you expect him to honor the relocation terms specified in the job offer. Wait 24 hours and spend the time tracking down the phone number of the relevant office at the state corporation commission for the state in which you were to have worked. Call and get the name of an actual case worker there. If the HR Director does not have good news, advise him that you have spoken with so-and-so at the state corporation commission and intend to file a fraud complaint.
Step 3. Beg your current boss to keep you on for a while. You'll still have to find a new job pronto but at least you'll keep the paychecks coming for a while.
Step 4. Call your would-be boss again. Advise him that you rescind your acceptance of the offer due to fraud on the part of the HR department.
Step 5. Spend $200 with a lawyer to see if you are entitled to any damages as a result of the company's fraud.
Step 6. Post a hate-page on the web, but stick to the straight facts so they can't sue you for libel. Step 6 is optional but it feels so good.
Note that if they refuse to honor the terms of the offer they made you, the job is lost. I know you don't want to give up on it but do yourself a favor: walk away. If they'll screw you this blatently at the front end, they'll screw you far worse down the line when you're already moved.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
But what it comes down to is which person made a mistake:
A. The recruiting person described the standard package badly or
B. The employee heard/remembered it incorrectly.
Without something in writing, the employee may in fact be in the wrong. That is part of the reason why it is so hard to prove in court. For something like a relocation package, I would definitely want a written, signed copy of what was offered.
If you have that, show it to the relocation guy and say "This is what I was promissed. If I don't get it, I have a valid cause for legal actions. The fact that you have a company policy of ignoring written promisses is neither a legal justification nor is it an ethical act. It will cause the company many problems. Please explain the siutuation to your boss and have him call me back to discuss this extremely important ethical issue."
If you don't have that, your only hope is to call the recruiter and discuss with them what was originally promissed and any compensation you can get if the recruiter agrees the company has reneged on his original offer.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
The hiring manager was authorized to speak for the company, and they have an obligation to honour his commitments. The proper response to him overstating things is to discipline him, not renege on their commitments.
In Delaware at least, a verbal contract is binding. Legally, the company must honor it.
The problem is that you have to prove the contract was made, and without a written copy that can be difficult.
About five years ago I actually got a relocation package that was BETTER than offered.
I accepted a promotion with the company I had been with for two years, but in a different city. They offered full moving expenses, days off and travel expenses to look for a place to live, etc.
Turns out that my wife and I decided to split at that time. Since she got the majority of the household goods (which was totally okay with me), the company agreed to move her to a town that was actually 100 miles further away than my destination, AND reimbursed me for a self-move rental truck for my stuff.
While the split (and subsequent divorce) were tough, my company's compassionate attitude made an unpleasant experience much less stressful.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
Contact your hiring manager (the person who you're going to work for, not the HR drone) immediately and politely but directly describe the problem. Tell them that the HR person is giving you an offer that is different from what the hiring manager offered, and that you'll be unable to take the job unless the issue is resolved.
At the same time, tell your current employer that you may be available for contracting.
If the hiring manager doesn't fix it, or tells you that they can't, then look for work elsewhere. Getting a promise pulled out from you during the *offer* period is surely an indication that you'll get more of this once you're hired, and are less likely to leave. Life's too short to work for a place like that.
Good luck with this, and remember to be polite but firm, and start lining up other interviews now in case the offer isn't resolved.
--Pat
Listen, if they're screwing you before your first day of work, they're going to continue screwing you once they get you into the job.
Unemployment does suck, but relocating to a new city with no support system (family, friends, etc.) and into a job where they are doing this kind of thing the first day sucks more. You think you're going to have any kind of job security there?
-j
If the company does react that way, then he is better off not working for them.
I know I may come across casual and naive, but years of experience working in and with companies has told me that if they are screwing you at day 0, then every day from that point forward will be misery. In a way, your cynicism is well placed - something is wrong here. But to roll over and present your genitalia without stating something just screws you in the long run. Better to have a clear contract upfront and know where the lines are, instead of having some bureaucrat use their discretion.
The thing is, there are people and places that are fully above-board. Even in corporate America. Even corporations. The problem is when people use their psychological contracts instead of real contracts. Business is business,and you should never expect more than a written contract asserts. If all you have is someone's word, you don't have anything. If their word is truly good, they won't have a problem writing it down.
I'm surprised you're even bothering to ask advice about this situation--it seems like a no-brainer to me.
Moving across the country to accept a new job involves significant risk. You are taking a leap into the unknown. You might decide that you really hate your new location, or that you can't find a place to live at a price you can afford. You might find that the job is not to your liking, that your boss is an abusive jerk, or any of a long list of other possible negatives. Plus there is the possibility of financial loss, and the certainty of high stress involved in making any geographical move. If you have a family, the risks and stress become much greater.
The only factor to counterbalance all these negatives is your faith in your new employer: you are trusting them to deliver on the promises they made to you with respect to your job duties and working conditions--and with helping to compensate you for the financial cost of moving, as was promised to you.
The key word here is trust. Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut instincts, and trust people. But trusting people whose actions show a lack of good faith is a dumb thing to do; it's like asking to be abused.
It may be that the headhunter knowingly made false promises to you so that he could get his commission. But the headhunter represents the employer, not you--he is their agent. Depending on exactly what happened, the employer may very well have a moral obligation to keep the headhunter's promise to you--but even that isn't the heart of the issue. The bottom line is this: if these people really wanted to hire you, then they would go out of their way to make you happy, to make you feel good about taking this job. They haven't done that, have they?
As for legalities, like "get it in writing, stupid", they're irrelevant in a situation like this. A deal is a deal, whether it's written on paper or spoken. If the other party breaks the deal before you've made any real investment in it, walk away. It really doesn't matter if the law is on your side or not. The law won't buy back wasted time, suffering or broken marriages. This is not a legal matter, it's a matter of common sense.
I hope you don't feel any moral obligation to take this job. You have been released from any such obligation by their show of bad faith. Write a letter to the employer's HR department telling them politely that you are refusing their job offer and why; be sure to cc it to the CEO and the headhunter.
I hope you haven't already given notice to your present employer. If you have, do anything you must to get them to let you stay. Chances are that you are a valuable employee, and they will be glad you're not leaving.
Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
Unless you were given a specific offer in writing, including the details of the relocation offer, your hosed. The verbal agreement is worth exactly the paper it's printed on
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
prior to telling your current employer you were leaving, if you did get the offer in writing then it is a non-issue, i doesn't matter what their policy is, they made a legal and binding promise of intent, get a lawyer.
And by the way, you might want to reconsider going to work for a company where they are that incompetent and/or dishonest.
my old sig is obsolete, and I haven't come up with a stupid enough new one yet
It was an IT services company. Except I was already at the job site when they pulled their magic now you see it, now you don't act. But it was my mistake because they told me they would "help" with relocation. Turned out their definition of help and mine were quite different. That was the same job the customer described the "intent" of making the job permanent. In this case the road to a hellish job in a hell hole of a town was paved with helpful good intentions.
The others telling you this is a big, red flag are absolutely correct. If it starts out bad, there's nowhere to go but down, especially if this is a company renting you to another company. You will have endless niggling disagreements because they're squeezing you on one side and the customer on the other. The customer will always be expecting you to pay the tab, and in disagreements with your employer the policy will always be on their side. Besides, it's a cheap chisel and if you roll over on this they're going to keep chipping away at your hide.
Go back to your current employer, tell them you changed your mind and wanted to give them first chance before putting them through the expense of finding someone new and yourself through the expense of finding another job.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
This is such an easy solution
1) Talk to your recruiter and find out what is happening. This could just be left hand doing something that right hand does not know about. If you don't get this resolved how you want it to be resolved, don't take the job. There is plenty of work out there for people who want to work and have skills. Recruiters and HR in general hate it when this happens. When Amazon.com moved me and the moving company screwed up and I asked my HR rep what to do. They made me sit down and tell them everything about the move so they could contact the moving company and get it resolved. To quote them, "If they screw up your move, we're not happy because you are not happy and we also paid them."
2) Do not act on or believe anything that anyone is saying until you have the written contract to sign. Read it, understand it, don't quit your job until you have signed this and sent it back and the recruiter says they have it. Make it clear that you will not take the job until you get the paper work. Make a copy of everything for your records.
3) If they still screw you over, then you don't have to stay there. You may just work one year and then find another job. The company will lose in the long run because they will not be able to hold top talent. Your life does not begin nor end with a job. Trust me, this will hurt the company in the long run much more than it hurts you.
4) Move on with your life no matter what happens. If you get screwed over, then just suck it up and move on. Don't be bitter and don't hold a grudge (Although, you might suggest to others in the industry not to work there). Just move on with your life and enjoy it.
Linux O Muerte!
Yes, it does reflect badly on them. In fact, it's a huge warning sign. If this company treats prospective employees this way, imagine how crappy it will be to work there.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
... especially if you were wise enough to insist on the relo package details in the written job offer. Remember, if it's not in writing, it's not yours.
Your hiring manager is your champion. They are the one that justified your extravagant salary to the higher-ups. They are the one that made HR find you. They are the one that wants you and not those other scrubs that applied and even interviewed. They know the ins and outs of their company and can get the right wheels greased in seconds. Just give them a call and tell them there is a snag on their end that you would appreciate some help with.
Be reasonable, but firm and insist that they correct this and stick to the agreement or you are going to be in a very awkward position. While already quitting your current job may make it feel like you've lost leverage, you are still in a strong position because you haven't started working with the new company yet--they don't want to lose you! Especially over something they already said you could have.
As a regular hiring manager, I've seen my share of great candidates get lost because of HR's mistakes. One of my peers lost a great candidate because HR stood too firm on the salary offer, when he called the candidate to find out what happened he discovered that they guy only needed $2K more to say yes!! For some reason, HR failed to discover this and had too much ego to make the deal happen, sending this hiring manager back into the process over $2K.
Call your new boss, he'll sort it out. If he doesn't, walk--you didn't want to move anyway.
These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
Yes, it is common practice in large companies.
However, you are in luck!
It sounds, from your description of the offer, that they included details of the relocation package in the offer. Which means you have it in writing. Which means it is a contract. Which means that you should tell the HR person that you have already accepted the job, which means that you have accepted the terms of the contract the offered.
You have the option of telling them that they will honor the terms of the contract, or you will sue them for the difference plus attorney's fees. Also add that you have every intention of honoring your part of the contract by continuing to work there, and if they try to fire you for filing suit, you will sue them again for wrongful termination, damages, and attorney's fees. Make sure the Recruiter and your new boss know of your intentions to hold them to the contract by legal force if necessary.
It is that straight forward. Good Luck.
This is an indication of how messed up the place is; you're caught up in internal politics / disputes before day one.
Imagine how it will be on day two, month six, year one. It can only get worse.
Decline. And do them a favour - do it in writing, and tell them why.
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An accepted offer cannot be treated this way. Here's why:
You are entitled to the compensation in the offer. Anything less is "substantive dismissal".
You can now NOT work for the company, and receive ALL benefits for a period of at least your probation. Settle out for three months of salary, and all (potential) relocation expenses, signing bonus, etc.
Since you are now entitled to this much, the offer on the table is: (1) you are going to be a nice guy, and accept the original offer, or (2) will accept a payout, or (3) will take a higher signing bonus (to pay for your unanticipated legal expenses), and take the offer.
The ball is in your court.
This is not legal advice -- talk to your lawyer.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
Become self-employed. You will never have to work with abusive bosses again.
A number of years ago, I changed jobs and moved 500 miles. The company that hired me offered relocation so I took it. In fact, they needed me to start immediately so part of the relo package was putting me up in a furnished apt for a couple months, a service to help me find an apt or house, movers and more. It seemed like a great package to me so I took it.
Reality is that all these costs are taxable and added to your income. Further the costs were ridiculasly high. Thousands for the 30 day stay in the furnished apt, a "service" that met with me once and basically just provided a written list of available apts - charged hundreds of dollars, movers who did a great job but were very expensive, in addition since they were storing my stuff for me, the storage costs were very high. In the end, I found an apt on my own so the expensive service was no real help to me at all just a waste of hundreds of dollars.
All told, the relo bill was very high and written into my employment agreement was that I would have to reimburse the company if I left before 1 year. Fine - that seemed very reasonable at the time.
Well, it turned out this company was a nightmare to work for - that was why they had to go to a headhunting service to find someone to begin with. No one local would work for them! Within a couple weeks, I knew I had made a huge mistake but I was stuck since I didn't want to repay the thousands of dollars in all these relo charges. In addition my taxes were higher since all these costs were taxable!
When I did quit (just after 1 year) and move back 500 miles, I used U-Haul and did it for a couple hundred bucks.
Now, my rule is to NEVER ACCEPT RELOCATION. If a company offers it, I will decline. If they need me to start instantly and can't wait for me to move myself, I say NO THANKS to that company.
Most companies large enough to claim that kind of intransigent policy also have an ombudsman. Find out who it is at the new company, and discuss the matter with him (or her). If there isn't one, consider it strike two against ever taking a job with them. If there is, discussing the matter indicates a willingness to work to solve problems from within. In some cases, the ombudsman may have enough authority to solve the problem on the spot; if not, they can almost always make those involved (the HR rep, your hiring manager, and the headhunter) all line up and get their stories consistent, and probably in writing.
I'd make the headhunter the next focus. Make it clear that you understood such-and-such to be the offer, and he now not only needs to resolve the apparent discrepancy, but explain to you how and where the "confusion" arose so you can determine not only whether to back out, but whether the company, the headhunter personally, or both should be avoided in the future. The phrase "litigation is not a preferred option" may make a nice mantra. Try to avoid burning bridges, but be prepared to hold a lifetime grudge with clean conscience.
And, speaking of the future, add to your permanent list of dealbreakers: personal copies of all company policies that will apply to you at the start of employment must be provided to you in printed form for your review (with legal counsel) prior to final acceptance of employment, with a cover letter listing the policies by name and assuring completeness of the list. Make sure all aspects of the offer are in writing. In important non-dealbreakers, you now may want to put identifying the ombudsman on your pre-acceptance checklist as well, and consider paying a lawyer to review employment offers for booby traps.
Most important, take this as a learning experience: possibly painful, but non-fatal.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
after getting sued for defamation".
It's only defamation if it's a lie. And the plaintiff has to prove the person is knowingly telling a lie, which isn't easy otherwise all those weekly rags that publish dirt on celebrities would be out of business.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Promissary Estoppel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estoppel
of one of my coworkers. He was moving to DC. THey had several mistatements in the document about the duration of the 'probation' period- some were 1 year, some were 2 years. For the same package. And no answers from them as to which one was the correct one.
Then there was the fees for the houses, and the clauses for required realtors (point shaving). Then the additional fees that were covered (mortage insurance thru special lenders) that were 50% above the going rate.
It's not as if having it in writing by the base company is something particular- it is probably farmed out to the cheapest group that's going to find every opportunity to tack on fees (sticking it to your new employer) and possibly (*worst case*) impacting your mortgage rates.
Good luck- I don't see alot of remedies in this situation EXCEPT to contact the original offer-er and ask him to have his super work something out with HR on this. If you're that good, they'll swing it. Otherwise negotiate for another week of paid vacation and consider it a learning experience.
Moreover, what the hell is up with these kinds of posts I've seen lately?
"You should just expect companies to do anything at all to make more money. It was your fault for expecting ethical behavior, not their fault for [lying/stealing/polluting/killing foreigners]."
Yes, it sure as hell IS someone's fault if they behave unethically. Sometimes it is ALSO your fault for believing in them when you had good reason not to. Both can be true at the same time.
But regardless of anything else, it is absolutely that politician, CEO, stockbroker, etc.'s fault when they behave like an ass. Work on the problem from both ends by recognizing that they will sometimes act like the crooks they are, while at the same time holding their feet over the coals for their specific malfeasances.
I was already an employee of Corporation X when I received a written internal relocation offer for an overseas assignment and accepted it. The offer gradually came apart; they withdrew pieces of it at a time. "Well, we can't actually do that part," or "no, other employees aren't getting that so we can't give it to you," etc.
I had already acted to my own detriment by giving notice in my apartment, selling furniture so it wouldn't need to be stored, and so on. So after making a last-ditch effort to salvage the relationship, I ended up having to resign from the company about two weeks before I was slated to move. In an attempt to recover my losses, I kept the portion of the money they had advanced (quite a bit of it had already gone into expenses, e.g. deposit and first month's rent on an apartment in the new location, travel expenses for the apartment-finding trip, etc.). I really had no choice at that point. They withdrew so much that I would have lost a significant sum of money -- and continued to bleed red ink for the months and years to come -- just by acquiescing and moving at that point.
What did I get for my efforts to play by their rules while they jerked me around? A lawsuit served by a top-tier national law firm, and scorched-earth litigation threats from their lead counsel (e.g., "we'll have to dig into all of your personal finances, and we'll tell any future employer that you took money from us unless you pay everything back right now"). I had to settle with them and go deeply into debt (not just to the corporation but to my attorney) just to escape from that toxic, nasty situation.
Is there a lesson here? I don't know. Just be very careful what you do. For what it's worth, I agree with the countless others who predict that it can only go downhill from here.
Tell them to take their job and shovel it.
Given that they cannot honor that agreement, it's clear that:
- Internal politics run amok
- They lack integrity
- It is unclear that your position won't change to include "phone grunt" or "gofer" responsibilities once you get there
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Don't put up with that crap. When you get that vascillating prick on the phone and he spews superseding reprioritization of denatured pre-hire compensation, you can say, "Well, that is very interesting to know. Will you please communicate to the hiring manager that I can no longer accept the position because you, Mr. HR Monkey, saw fit to breach good faith and contradict the offer that the manager made and reduced the relocation package that I was relying upon in making the decision to sell my home and relocate to your state? Yes, please do go ahead and explain that to him. I'll let him know to expect your call. Good day."
Then you hang up, and shit gets fixed.
Pah, another amateur lawyer. Legally, firing somebody is not that simple. Yeah, technically you can fire folks for any number of reasons. In the real business world, firing people is not something you do if you can avoid it. For one thing, it's is expensive, because you need to document that you did everything correctly. If you don't document a termination carefully, you could end up getting in legal trouble for what someone claims you did, and have no proof that you acted correctly.
(I'm actually speaking from personal experience, and no, I'm not going to share the details.)
The fact is, this dude's problem is not "bait and switch". That's when somebody knowingly makes a substitution. No sane manager is going to start a new hire out by screwing him: it's formula for disaster. What obviously happened was the manager making promises that the HR department doesn't feel bound to honor. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing — not an uncommon thing in large organizations.
Confrontation is a lose-lose here. If the potential employee goes in thinking, "They're out to screw me!" it's going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy: either he'll walk away from a job he disrupted his life to take, or he'll start a new job totally pissed off at the people he works for (not a formula for professional success!). For their part, the company has invested a lot of effort into hiring this guy, and made business plans on the assumption he was going to start work. They have a vested interest in making him happy, even if they show the usual bureaucratic stupidity in fulfilling their own interests.
So forget about who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. The dude needs to express his disappointment, respectfully but firmly, to both the HR bureaucrats and the manager that made him the negated offer. Everybody here has motivation to work out a comprimise; nobody should waste time being self-righteous.
You have one big bit of leverage at your disposal here: you. You obviously have some skill set they want, and, most likely, not too many people have it (I'm guessing they weren't paying for your relocation so you could flip burgers). They wanted it bad enough to pay you a salary and pay some significant amount in relocation expenses. They'll probably want it bad enough to pay that plus a bit more. Even if this is a contract, and you're now stuck with each other if that's really how they want it, do they really think they'll get your best work as things stand? Or that you'd be interest in renewing a contract with a company like that? Too many people view employment as a one way deal. Employers need you just as much you need them.