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How To Handle Corporate Blackmail?
An anonymous reader writes "I have been in a software engineering position at a large company for approximately seven years. Recently, for a variety of reasons, I accepted a new job working for a local software company. I have given my employer three weeks' notice, instead of the standard two, as a courtesy.
In return, it has been implied that, in spite my record of above-average performance appraisals and promotions, I will be marked as leaving the company 'on bad terms' if I refuse to extend my departure date further. With only three weeks remaining, I am hesitant to rock the boat by contacting our HR department, but this concerns me and seems like an extremely unethical practice. I live in an 'at-will' employment state, so I know that they have no legal recourse to keep me. I am concerned about the references they could give in the future; having spent a large majority of my career at this company, I will be dependent on them for references to verify my career experience.
Has anyone ever run into this kind of situation before?"
Would you be willing, and would your current employer be willing, to stay on a few weeks longer as a contractor at a higher pay rate? Would your new employer allow you to change your start date?
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Very few companies will do anything other than confirm that you worked during period X. Otherwise they are opening themselves up to all kinds of legal trouble.
With a written record of your concerns on file with the HR department, your superiors will understand that a spiteful, negative reference will carry direct negative consequences for them.
... there is no law saying the references you provide have to be in your direct management chain.
As for which references you choose, if you've been working there as many years as you say then there are probably lots of colleagues who can vouch for your performance on projects where you've worked together
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
If that's the kind of people they are, they'll slag you off no matter how long you stay.
Make sure to keep any copies of performance reviews, etc., but don't give in to that kind of bullshit. Probably won't matter in the long run, anyway - if they're run by assholes like that, they'll be out of business in a few years.
If they're going to mark you as leaving 'on bad terms', you may as well move the date up and quit now. It's not like they can do anything additional to screw you. Move on to your next (and presumably better) job and forget about the last one.
I doubt they're going to tell any future employer anything more than the dates of employment. However (and this is just me), if you can confirm that they're definitely going to give you the bad reference, it's not going to hurt you to pack your things *today* and walk with no notice - it *is* an at-will state, after all. You've already got another job, so the reference from your current employer isn't as important as it would be otherwise, and I personally would not be in the frame of mind to offer anything more to an employer that attempted to twist my arm like that. Screw 'em.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Remember: get everything in writing and recorded. That includes statements and discussions about this "you need to extend your leave or we might not be so friendly". In an extreme case only, I would suggest stating that you are recording all conversations as is your privilege, and then do so (say with a digital camera or something). Refuse to have conversations that do not have other people with you, and absolutely refuse to have a 2v1 scenario (2 management plus you)...that is quite deliberate as a legal maneuver for workplaces so they can choose what to deny/accept as fact.
I'd be calling the ACLU among other places and start talking to a lawyer and getting advice in case they do pull something. I think you just found your sign of a bad employer.
Either way, get more info. This just reeks of "not enough info".
I have been in a similar situation- and there is no simple answer. You have to talk to your HR department, simply because you have no other recourse that could come with a positive outcome for you. The only other option with a positive outcome is to contact your new employer and ask for an extension, but in this job market, I would definitely seek out a response from the HR department first. Did this statement come from your boss or higher up the chain? How large a company is this?
In my situation, it was a smaller company (50 employees, give or take), and it came from the top. I ended up pulling my contract and backing the employer down, simply by pointing out that my contract required 30 days of notice, and I provided more than that. I had also let them know I was looking before I found a new employer, and already had a glowing letter of recommendation from the company, so I had proof that any negative feedback was biased and silly compared to the official recommendation. Did you provide your notice in written format, and keep a copy? Did you sign a contract when you started?
Most of us don't leave companies particularly often, and are not experts on every detail of how to do it. As well as asking friends, why not get the collective wisdom of Slashdot, where there is experience of hundreds of companies and their behavior? Sometimes tags like "thinkforyourself" are just annoying!
With only three weeks remaining, I am hesitant to rock the boat by contacting our HR department
Think of it less as "rocking the boat" and more as "making it clear that blackmail will not work".
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" - Plato
Leave sooner.
They have threatened you and have created a hostile work environment. No reason to 'suck it up'. Just leave. Feel free to suggest to them that if you even hear a hint that they badmouthed you to any future employer, or potential employer that you will seek compensation.
I got fired from a company I worked for for two years because my boss found some emails I'd sent to a friend of mine (who worked at one of our suppliers) calling him a complete asshole.
This obviously put me in a bit of a tricky situation with references, but luckily the general manager of the company was a good guy and knew that the guy in question indeed was an asshole, so agreed to give me a reference.
Your case is even more clear-cut than mine, in that you have obviously done nothing wrong. Given that some people in your company are obviously acting in a completely childish manner, can you find a sympathetic individual - who's not your boss but is someone high up enough - who can give you a reference?
As a final point, most companies shouldn't give good/bad references for exactly these reasons - they can be used to distort the truth to benefit the company in question. A lot of places just give a standard statement confirming that the employee worked in the specified role between the specified dates - this should be standard.
Leave immediately and never go back.
Contact an employment lawyer, and have them write a "lawyer letter" along the lines of "In response to your threat to provide unfavorable references unless our client agreed not to leave your employment on (date), our client is leaving your employment immediately. Any action on your part to defame the character of our client will be dealt with appropriately". Should cost you about $100.
One of the standard legal services is writing such letters. Basically, you can pay a lawyer to write what you want in legal language and send it on the lawyer's letterhead for a modest fee. This is useful when faced with annoying threats or recalcitrant vendors.
I've moved an left a few jobs, I've been fired from one. In the course of job doing data management, I found the general manager of the company embezzling $20,000 per month. I contacted HR & legal discreetly. Its a publicly traded small company ($150MM market cap). Doesn't matter. The GM fired me shortly thereafter.
Its a small industry, and when people call for references, they say bad things. "Doesn't follow through", "lack of focus", "wouldn't show up". General bullshit. I've lost several good jobs because of this.
Here's the shitter: I HAVE NO FUCKING RECOURSE. I fucking stumbled across some BIOTCH stealing, tried to do the right thing, and now I'm fucking paying the price for it. I've been out of work over a fucking year, and can't get a fucking job to save me. I've burned through ALL my life savings (I'm 38), and have no prospects for work. My wife is stressed and I have young kids to take care of.
So, I don't know what to tell you. Its very possible to get very screwed through no fault of your own.
Remember this, though: Nobody is looking out for you but you. NOBODY. There is no honor at company. No ethics, no morals. NOTHING. If you don't sleep under the same roof, expect nothing of people.
yes, I'm bitter and jaded. And I've earned it.
I had a similar situation happen to me. My asshole of a supervisor said I HAD to give them more time I changed my date from 2 weeks to one week, he decided to make it immediate and I had a nice little vacation between jobs.
I understand he has since been fired.
You can't trust someone who is going to threaten you.
Ask them what the company policy is regarding giving references. Explain you are worried because of what your manager has said.
HR exists to protect the company. Your manager is jeopardising the company since any unfairly poor reference would leave the company open to legal action. HR won't like his actions.
I'd do it the other way.
contact new job, "Can I start today instead?"
if yes, go into old bosses office tell him to shove it up his ass sideways, you're filing a lawsuit on him if he says ANYTHING other than that you worked there, and walk out right now with zero notice.
Catering to an asshole empowers the asshole. Smacking an asshole is just plain old fun.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
or he's very politically connected (which is unlikely if he's stupid enough to try a move like this).
The large majority of the most successful people I've seen in the corporate world are stupid, egotistical, loud-mouthed bullies who live their lives without an ounce of introspection or regret. Mostly due to the complete and total lack of repercussions they receive for being so.
You send out that email and he'll probably get a promotion.
I don't understand it either - but I've seen things go that way often enough to understand that that's the way it works.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Actually, the best reference I got from a former employer started out as sounding negative:
New company HR: "What was geobeck like as an employee?"
Former supervisor: "He was lazy."
New company HR: "Um... really?"
Former supervisor: "Oh yeah, definitely. If he had an inefficient process he had to do over and over again, he'd do everything he could to make it more efficient so he wouldn't have to do as much work."
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I worked once for a national-chain retail computer store, as their lead technician in the tech shop at one of the stores. This chain had a knee-jerk reaction to slow sales: lay off whoever is making the most money.
Never mind that it is an asinine strategy... it actually does work for positions like cashier, because they can always grab another person off the street, give them a day of training, and voila... a new cashier. Trying to tell them this strategy does NOT work with educated & certified techs fell on deaf ears.
So, guess what? We had a slow couple of months. And I made the most money in my department. So I was called in one day to the manager's office, where I was read a list of completely bogus complaints from other store managers: not just exaggerations but things that never actually happened. I was told these complaints were going in my employee file and that if I wanted to stay on with the store, I would have to take a $6/hr. pay cut.
I was furious. By law in my state, I have the right to examine and reply to anything that is in my employee records. So I went home with a copy of these "complaints", and wrote up a detailed and carefully worded reply, including solid evidence that 2 out of the 3 complaints were completely false, and casting doubt on the 3rd. It was false too... I just did not have much evidence to back up my side of the story.
I took this in to the manager's office, and demanded that my reply be put into my employee file. He told me okay (as he had to, under law). But... I got access to my file a month or so later, and my reply was not in the file. It had "mysteriously disappeared".
A week or so later, we had a visit from the corporate HR person. Very nice lady. Always "on our side", etc. After the formal meeting I went to her with my story, told her that I had a copy of my reply to the complaints, and I would like to make sure it got in my file. She told me to give her the copy, and she would see to it personally.
Yeah, right. Of course it never made it in there.
I quit not long after that, for a better job. But I learned: don't rely on HR. They can be slaves to the people who pay their checks... it is a position that is very close to having a built-in conflict of interest. No doubt some are legitimate, but don't count on it.
Just as an aside: after I left, that manager was caught embezzling. He had created fake employees and was somehow managing to put their paychecks in his own bank account(s).