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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
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
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
This is exactly right. There are quite a few precedents regarding employers doing anything other than confirming objective information in regards to an employment inquiry.
As an aside, it is quite possible that no one above your manager (presuming it was he/she that threatened you) is aware of this stupid intimidation tactic.
You MAY wish to obtain copies of your reviews and other praises prior to leaving the company.
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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.
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.
When I worked in HR calling references, more companies than I would've thought will badmouth you.
Sure it's against the law, but I'm not going to tell the applicant, "We aren't going to hire you due to a shit reference and sure, I'll gladly use my vacation days to go to court with you".
Instead your app gets filed away until it gets old enough to shred.
Some states, Illinois among them, require that an employer provide copies of a personnel file or any materials within to the employee, for up to one year following termination, upon employee request. If I were you, I'd go straight to HR and ask for a full copy of your personnel file. They already know you're leaving, they should have no problem with it. There is no federal legislation, so you'll have to check your state laws. I would put the request in writing, indicating that the request is in compliance with whatever statute you can quote. Don't make it a big letter, just a short note. Be sure to: ask for your *complete* file, including evaluations, promotions, and any other documentation they have; quote the applicable statute and paragraph; ask for the copies to be provided within 5 working days; date and sign the letter; keep a signed copy. If you don't get a copy within a week, send a registered letter before you leave, referencing the original, and keep copies of it. If you don't have a copy within a couple of weeks, you'll probably have to talk to a lawyer and show him your records. Most courts would find that 5 days turnaround to make a copy of a file is more than adequate. Disclaimor: IANAL....
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.
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).