harsh termination process after a competitors job offer

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Hasslehoff

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A friend phoned this morning stating that he was moving jobs , she received an offer of a position from a direct competitor of her current employer some time ago.
She went to her current employer this week and told them that there was an offer was on the table but also held back the fact it was a competitor, her current employer said that they would need time to see if they could agree new terms in order to keep her. They came back and stated that they could not match the terms on offer but came close. She told them that it was not acceptable and she tendered her resignation which was accepted, at that point she told them who the offer was from.
Well, that changed matters , her manager went out of the office and came back with a member of security and HR. They advised her that she was to leave the premises within the next 15 minutes and to go to her desk (escorted) to only collect her personal belongings. She did all of this , shocked, but nonetheless all in a sense of numbness took her belongings. She then said to the HR person that she wanted her P45, notice period before she left the premises, she also stated that such a procedure of treating an employee like a criminal was never made clear to her and that she had no time to say goodbye or close off her work. They stated that it was not possible to allow her back to her office, and that a P45 and any money owed would be forwarded to her. However they did state that if they checked her email, web activity and phone records and found that she had dealings with this company within the scope of her employment that they may deny paying the notice period since they may deem such contact to be a breach of contract.

Any Thoughts ??
 
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Re: A dog would have faired better

Hasslehoff said:
her manager went out of the office and came back with a member of security and HR. They advised her that she was to leave the premises within the next 15 minutes and to go to her desk (escorted) to only collect her personal belongings.
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That is not unusual procedure in some companies and roles.
she also stated that such a procedure of treating an employee like a criminal
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How was she treated like a criminal!?
However they did state that if they checked her email, web activity and phone records and found that she had dealings with this company within the scope of her employment that they may deny paying the notice period since they may deem such contact to be a breach of contract.
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Sounds plausible although we don't know the details of her contract.
 
Re: A dog would have faired better

I have to say that if I found out that an employee was leaving and going to a competitor I would want them out of my office as quick as possible. Once she has accepted the new position, her loyalty is immediately with the new employer and there is always a temptation to bring something to the table of the new employer. I'm sure she was fairly shocked, it's not the nicest feeling in the world but from the employer perspective you would want her out of the office asap.
 
Re: A dog would have faired better

Are they going to pay her for her notice period?

It would be commonplace in certain industries, where someone will be going to a competitor that if someone hands in their notice that they are asked to leave straight away and not work their notice period (although they will get paid for it). I have seen it happen in our office on a couple of occassions.

Its not like they are being frogmarched out the door by Security or anything, but just asked to take their personal belongings and check their desks. No one has a problem with it, as its just explained as procedure. Nothing personal, and not treated like criminal however.

Thats just business, however escorting someone out the door by Security, threats about e-mails, etc. seems a bit OTT
 
Re: A dog would have faired better

This is not uncommon in some industries and would be the norm in certain part of financial services. I'd agree as well if I knew she was leaving for the competition, i'd have her out of the way asap. Might sound rough but it's a rough world we live in

Anyway, the weather is nice, she get's a month's ( or however long her notice is)holiday at home with pay
 
I think the company have behaved in a reasonable manner. Most companies in industry will do this if they find you are moving to a direct competitor (especially for Sales based roles). It's not called Garden Leave (UK references but same for here) for nothing - she gets a few paid weeks off until her notice period elapses. With regard to checking her email etc it's probably company policy to ensure company information has not been passed over to comptetitor. It sounds like a relatively large company, if they have HR & security on-site so there is probably a clause in her contract or the company handbook outlining this process.

I know several people who have been frogmarched to their desks and then escorted off the premises after resigning.
 
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This is often standard process, designed to protect the employer's interests. it is very harsh, agreed, but best not to take it personally. It would have been better to know of it in advance of course, as it would make it less traumatic. I have ex colleagues who were escorted from the premises after resigning to go o a competitor. In their case, they were aware of the policy and did not mind. Indeed they were quite happy not to have to work their notice.

May be worth looking at her contract to make sure she knows what the policy actually covers. If it comes to withholding money it suddenly becomes more serious.
 
This sounds like pretty standard procedure to me. The employer will pay for the notice period but in the interest of the company does not want the employee on site so that they don't take any trade secrets to the new employer.

Nothing unusual here.
 
If its a specialist area of work it wouldnt surprise me. As Comanche says they must ensure they dont take any (more) trade secrets with them.
 
That's harsh alright but I can understand why the company did it - I have been in a workplace before where a disgruntled colleague left to work with a competitor, and before leaving, wiped their PC - deleted all their work going back two years, all their list of contacts, all record of business with clients (invoices, confirmation e-mails for orders etc) and took all their client contact list with them to their new place of employment, leaving the company in disarray as to picking up the pieces.

The person hired to replace them had to start from complete and utter scratch, tracking down and dealing with clients who were understandably annoyed at their orders not turning up, etc. Perhaps your friends' company had a similar experience in the past and were trying to avoid giving your friend the time to carry out similar (not that I'm saying she would have, just I suppose the company has to be careful having perhaps been burned before?)

It does sound fairly heavyhanded but I have seen this happen before, unfortunately, and especially if access to sensitive material had been part of the job - another previous colleague who had been working in a financial sector was told they was being made redundant, and was allowed collect their belongings under supervision and escorted from the building too, just minutes after being given the news. Presume it's a precautionary measure to avoid an employee being vindictive, but it's a very unfair procedure for the majroity of us who are honest and not that way inclined.
 
I am surprised she got so upset about this, especially as she is the one who resigned, even though they came close to matching the other offer. Not a good idea to start complaining about being treated like a criminal, sounds a bit melodramatic. No wonder they threatened to go through her email etc.

I had similar experience when myself and a whole team of people were made redundant. Now that is upsetting of course, and we were individually forced to sign an agreement as regards redundancy payment there and then, on a 'take it or leave it basis'. Incidentally I signed it and checked afterwards whether I was legally entitled to anything better - I was not, so I obviously didn't quibble retropsectively.

We were also told to leave the building immediately, without touching our PCs and without speaking to anyone. Remember this was not our choice, and we had no forewarning of it. We just took it on the chin, it didn't kill us and we all moved on to better things.

I don't think she has much to complain about to be honest.
 
Wow if your friend thinks that that's harsh she really has had no exposure to the real world. From reading your post it seems like she was dealing with strategic company plans etc. - did she really expect to be able to sit down at her PC and start emailing people.

Tell you friend to sit back and actually think about it and I am sure she will get over it pretty soon.

While I agree that the security element sounds a bit harsh I am sure the company were only protecting themselves as you never know how people will react in these situations, it's not like she was kicked out of a nightclub!!
 
I have seen it happen in our company (when someone is leaving). It is more so because if they were left to work their notice and have client contact for another month or so, they could actively set about poaching clients, or copying intellectual property.

No one was ever frogmarched out though, certainly not by security. And people involved were not surprised to be requested to leave.

The foolish thing is, if you were that devious, you would have contacted the clients before you handed in your notice and also copied what you like.

Its common practice and though they might be a bit heavy handed in this instance, its really not presonal.
 
I don't see why she's so upset as she now has the next month off. There is nothing stopping calling her friend an arrange a "farewell" party.
In my old company, I know one guy who lied about where he was going (said it was a competitor and it wasn't). He was very dissapointed to find they didn't think he was "important" enough to frogmarch!!
 
I have heard of this type of stuff and I'm in the public service.

A friend of mine did something similar a few years ago. She cleared out her desk a few days before she told them and had arranged to meet her husband for an early lunch 30 mins after she told them.
 
This is fairly common practice. I'd have thought most people are aware of this policy and have any contact client lists etc taken well before they hand in their notice ;)
 
becky said:
She cleared out her desk a few days before she told them and had arranged to meet her husband for an early lunch 30 mins after she told them.
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that's what your friend should have done. :p

it's certainly not uncommon the way her company reacted. is it morally right? probably not but when it comes to these types of jobs and companies morales aren't very much considered. you're friend probably learnt out of the experience i.e. prepare yourself better before you let your other plans known.
 
I know of two similar cases but worse, man and family transferred to another country worked for a year, fired and given one hour to clear his desk, another man away on a business trip was fired over the phone - not nice, but life. As she has the security of a new job she should be delighted to have her notice period off. It wasn't personal just business.
 
I,d say she was sorry she opened her mouth !!!!

Does company have PC Security Policy explicitely mentioned at login . IT Security contract signed by employee

Grey area in Law, but monitoring/ checking employees IT records needs to have a good reason, I.E. was she passing iinfo to competitor...
 
crumdub12 said:
Grey area in Law, but monitoring/ checking employees IT records needs to have a good reason, I.E. was she passing iinfo to competitor...
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No, no company needs a good reason. All IT equipment is company property. They have every right to do with them as they will, i.e. if they want they can monitor, all internet usage, phone calls, email, saved data, chat sessions anything.
 
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