Being threatened with court and possible sue!!

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by noelg24, May 21, 2007.

  1. kat731
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    kat731 Megabyte Poster

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    Noel, hope you sort things out.. You must be lucky to have good references as i thought you got the sack from the last one?

    Kat
     
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  2. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Even so, giving an employee a bad reference for what ever reason can open up the employer to litigation, as what happened a couple of years ago.

    They prefer to refuse to give you a reference or provide a bog standard one just listing the length of time you worked for them.
     
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  3. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Well I think alot of you forget to realise I was more than anything bullied into taking this job...I was told by the company I am working for I will be startin on monday if I got the job...yet when I got the job, the agency said I had to start the next day!! So getting two different responses about when I am due to start work didnt really help...then the contract itself was rushed, everything happened so quickly I didnt know what was going on until I finally got "settled" into the job...they are the ones who misled me in the first place but I thought it was all good since I was being asked technical questions at the interview and I answered them all correctly...and that gave me the impression it was what I wanted to do...however it wasnt and no matter what I say to this agency they will throw everything at me just so I can turn round and say "yes ok I will stay" but leaving it to last minute to threaten me with legal action clearly tells me they knew they were going to lose me...its that simple...perhaps next time I wont go looking for contract work...

    However as I have said if the college can wait two weeks then fine I will stick it out but if not...well I would rather be in a job where I am happy than be forced into a job just so they can make up numbers and dictate to me what I can and cant do...and with regards to the travel (and I have said this many times) I thought it would be quicker by public transport than by cycling (which took 1hr 20min) but its the time so why should I bother?
     
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  4. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    Its not a question of work ethics. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of employers that have been honest and up front with me about the roles I've had with them. If they hadn't lied to me, I might feel a bit more upset about leaving them in the lurch - in fact, on more than one occasion I have worked longer than my notice period simply because I didn't want them to be left high and dry.

    However, I have also had jobs where I have been treated, basically, like shite - both by an employer and by an agency. On those occasion I had no qualms whatsoever about leaving before the end of my notice period, and would do so again if I was in a similar situation.

    The laws regarding employment rights for employees have been eroded away almost to the point of nothingness in the past thirty years in this country. I have no sympathy for the vast majority of employers - lets face it, the reason most of them use agency staff in the first place is either because their finance department went a bit mad with the redundancies last time round or because they want a workforce that has no rights whatsoever working for them.

    As for agencies, my heart weeps for them every time they lose out. Their commission rates are ridculous, they do nothing more than word match from CVs and regularly treat you like dogshit once they've got their commission out of you in any case.

    Let me give an excellent example of why employers suck. A few weeks ago the DBA where I work resigned as he'd found a job with another company (a multi-national, extremely well respected) that nearly doubled his salary. He gave his notice, had his exit interview and got a start date. A couple of weeks later, he received a letter from the company stating that they were withdrawing the offer because the parent company had decided they wanted to use agency staff instead. So he had to come cap in hand back to us and basically beg for his job back (how embarrassing that must have been).

    The days of decent employee relations are over. I will give my absolute everything to an employer - in fact, I regularly work 16 hour days, and am often up until 3:00 in the morning fixing & tinkering. However, when it comes down to it, I could care less about any of them and, if I wanted to leave, I would. No threats from lawyers will stop me.
     
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  5. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Well cos I did do a good job and I left on good terms and not by making out they were out to get me or something like that...so thats why I get good references and for the job before that one, well I was there 18mths before moving on...enough said :biggrin
     
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  6. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    I think zeb you are my saviour...you are right in one thing...the agencies do only care about commissions and when they call you, its not to see how ur doing in the job...its to make sure you are attending the job even tho they make out they do care...
     
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  7. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Agree, completely.
     
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  8. Slam

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    How different was the actualy job from what was advertised? Maybe you could say you were hired under false pretenses, being told that you were to responsible for this and that and ended up doing a completely different job, surely that would be a breach of contract?
     
  9. drum_dude

    drum_dude Gigabyte Poster

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    I do agree with Ryan as it does come down to professionalism. If one keeps walking out of contracts when it gets tough then where does it end - a danger of a habit forming I suppose.

    Now don't get me wrong as I'm not thinking of the agency or client as they can easily - and have been - just as ruthless in dropping you as you can drop them!

    At the end of the day you just have to do what you must to make yourself happy! But what happens if the next contract is just as lame...what then??

    So - I'm back tracking on what I said earlier - Ryan's advice to stick it out maybe the right course of action as you then become reliable in the agency's eye and they may put you forward for better contracts in the future! Proving one's self is important in this game and walking away half way through will give you a bad reputation!

    Bear in mind that agencies have a high staff turnover too - the guy you dealt with may end up at the next agency you apply to and ,based on past events, he may just throw your application/cv in the bin!!

    Food for thought me thinks!
     
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  10. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Here is the job description:

    My Client is currently recruiting for 2 x 1st line Service Desk Analysts. You will be working in a major financial organisation within the the Informations systems department. They are looking for people to provide front line support for the business' internal and external offices throughout the UK, Maintaining SLA on tickets assigned to you and provide front line support.

    Required skills for this would be Active directory.


    Now the bit that got my attention was Active Directory. In the past jobs I applied for were looking for people who knew active directory yet I had not experience in that about a year ago...so when this one appeared I applied thinking it would be along the same lines as my last job.

    Come the interview I was thrown technical questions, all of which I answered correctly and on the basis of those answers I thought yes this sounds like the job I want and its going to be good...however when the job itself started it was a total different ball game...they dont use Active Directory but their own version called WebAdmin, on top of that its all application based so there is nothing in terms of faulty machines or problems with sending/receiving emails, servers or stuff like that. Thats when it hit me that I didnt want to be here...it was nothing like my last job at all...and i knew if I stayed here longer I would end up being back to where I was before I started at the last job. The place itself is like a call centre based area. The service desk people have to log into their phones (and I thought IT was just ring a certain number regardless of who is on the helpdesk). on top of that, users would log their problems on their machines and we would check the system to see what new tickets have been logged and then deal accordingly. Again nothing to do with faulty machine or email issues it was more like, my password is not working can you reset it please? or this user no longer works in the company can you please remove them from the system or a new user has started at the company can you add them to so and so group please?

    I thought you have to be joking...is this what I am going to be doing? Where's all the nitty gritty stuff? what about faulty machines, servers, back ups? I was doing all that at my last job and yet here i was barely touching the surface.

    Why was I asked about TCP/IP and NTFS and Domain Controllers when the job itself doesnt even go anywhere near that!!

    It was clear to me that I was in this job to make the numbers and they had no care about my skills or experience and the reason I say this is cos in the interview the technical questions were set from the guy just reading off what I had done in my previous role (and also my personal experience) from my CV!!!

    And as for the agency, well I have said my bit about them and if (and its a big if) the college can hold on for another 2 weeks and not get someone else in during that time then yes I will stay another 2 weeks to finish off the contract otherwise if they cant im off. its the second time ive been given the opportunity (the first time round I hadnt even signed the contract yet they said to me I couldnt back out of the job and then they offer me more money as a way to lure me in) and I am not going to let this one pass, legal action or no legal action. I have friends who are solicitors so if they wana play hard ball we'll play. Now im off out clubbing to celebrate my birthday. :biggrin
     
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  11. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    I know agencies are all the same only working to get the commission at the end of the day. But however, just take the bull by the horn and finish your two weeks.
     
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  12. nXPLOSi

    nXPLOSi Terabyte Poster

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    I have to completely agree with Pheonix on this one, If you signed the contract then its the buck stops with you. If I were in the same situation, bailing on a contract that I've signed wouldn't even enter my head. As Michael said, If the college wants you that much then 2 weeks waiting won't be a problem.

    I agree that the job description may of been incorrect, and that does cause a debate to where the contract comes into play, but lets be honest here, its a month long contract. You won't find company's that will treat you as well as if you were a longterm employee. Im not sure what your expecting from this contracting, but no company are going to let you have access to their Domain Controller if your only there for a month, and if they do, they're just plain stupid.

    Also, when you say you've got friends who are solicitors, im not sure how that will help. You've signed a contract that states you cannot leave, end of story as far as that goes.

    Even though I may of sounded very negative, i've just tried to get across the underlying facts here! Good luck with the college and lets hope they will wait the 2 weeks and this won't get anymore stressful for either party! 8)
     
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  13. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Hmm, sorry Noel but you need to get a grip on reality mate - this is a very immature and unprofessional stance to take. It's all about not letting people down, carrying out and seeing through whatever you have committed yourself to do, especially if you have done it in writing - whether or not they would to take you to court over this is uncertain but if they do, they will win - contracts should not be entered into lightly, if you aren't sure whether you can keep your end of the bargain, then don't sign them, as they are legal documents and will come back to haunt you.

    Do your time, don't burn bridges, the other job will wait.
     
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  14. Jakamoko
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    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    Noel, man - I hope clarity of thought and reasoning are the best gifts you get this birthday :thumbleft
     
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  15. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Remember this was the same agency that you posted about a few weeks ago and what a great wage you were getting because of them! :)

    I think you are doing the right thing, try and get a start date for the college in two weeks time and finish the contract. No drama!
     
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  16. supag33k

    supag33k Kilobyte Poster

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    Nothing to quote mate!

    We all do or have done the hard yards for contracting.

    Do not react emotionally to anything that the agency says basically.

    You want this new job then put it in writing to the college that you start in two weeks "as your current agency is enforcing the contract clauses..."

    Also the current agency has NO RIGHT WHAT-SOEVER to contact the college for ANY REASON. [this is real dirty..]

    Also I would be very suprised if the agency was to put this threat to contact the college in writing.

    You should state in writing to the agency that you will do the two weeks but if they contact the college then you will sue them.

    Do the two weeks and be free of the obligations or risks thereafter. But get your study time in where and when you can for the last two weeks - geddit?

    Essentially contracts must be carefully considered before they are signed.

    The lesson to learn with contracting is that the right hand never needs to know what the left hand is doing. For example you could professionally run two 2 day a week contracts at premium dollar for an extended period by this method.

    Good luck dude...but just play it cool okay!
     
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  17. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Thank you all...I will see if the college if can hold out for 2 weeks cos of the contract clause...but yes you are right supag33k they really shouldnt threaten me by saying they will contact the college and give my position to someone else cos I said I wouldnt work the last 2 weeks...but here is hoping...

    Its the first time I have ever done any contract work and after this episode I will remember to check things over carefully and also not be bullied into a job either...

    I know everyone is saying I should have read the contract...but remember before i even signed, I was offered another job right after I got this one and when I said to them I will take the other one, they came back saying I couldnt cos I had agreed to the contract and that was that...no changing my mind or anything...so even before I signed I still had no way out when in fact I did...only I didnt see it then...and then came the huge pay...the rest you all know about...
     
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  18. supag33k

    supag33k Kilobyte Poster

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    Yes well young Padawan a sneaky trick to be sure - they blind you with wealth as they slip a contract around your neck ... let that be a good lesson!

    Plus I am trying to get my head around where this agency is going - are they suggesting that they will undercut you at the college??..coz that is even a worse case of B/S. [soundslike an over zealous agency staff member that is losing commision to me..]

    Simple solution as above - they let you do your two weeks notice and they keep away from that college..and you get that in writing!

    Note that if you get a "steer clear" agreement from the agency then you should get the agency owner or principle to sign it for obvious reasons..:)

    EDIT - I would go to the agency owner/principle with my concerns as a consideration, they might like to know that a agency staff member would play a trick like this...
     
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  19. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    This is absolutely spot-on advice. IT's a small world, my friends. I've worked for the same people multiple times in my career (one group twice, another group twice, and another group THREE times) because they know what I bring to the table. Dump the contract, and both the people working at the agency AND the people working at the client site will remember you negatively. And with the turnover rate in IT (as people quit or are fired or advance), that reputation will spread throughout your immediate location. It's up to you whether the reputation is a good one or a bad one... all legalities aside.
     
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  20. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    It's also not sending a good message to the new agency if you are willing to just walk out of a contract with the current agency. They will then start to think (with good reason) that eventually you'll do the same to them.

    You might have a case that they mis-advertised the job or that they are trying to bully you into finishing the contract but whatever you do, always be polite to the current people you're dealing with. If you go in all guns blazing and threatening with lawyers then 1. you're no better than they are and 2. you'll give them more cause to proceed further.

    My advice, contact the new agency/college and try to come to an agreement to wait 2 weeks and then do your time at the current job. You can also study in this time and get paid for it too.

    Last thought: is it really worth the potential damage to your future career path just to avoid 2 weeks of boredom?
     
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