Snitching or Giving a Possibly Needed Wake Up Call?

[Kellykins1218]

Sounds like they came in with an agenda

 

[kamik86]

We have had someone leave here and write emails to many of the people with grievances after. I didn't see the email but from what I hear it was really just the ranting of an entitled man. Most felt that way about everything he said while he was here too.

I think every job has a few culture things that many wishes would change... I know my place does. Its getting better but some disagree with that direction too. However most really are trying to do the right thing and do what is best by the company, employees and customers.

 

[sharona]

There has got to be more to this story. It just sounds odd. So a couple was hired to start on the same day and they both resigned at the end of day 1 and wrote a letter?

Everywhere I have worked (large accounting firms), you are with HR doing some onboarding things, meeting co-workers over a lunch, being shown your desk. I really do not even think you would have time or exposure to enough things to write a three page letter. This does not seem realistic to me at all. I cannot believe the letter would have any merit unless there was more to the story.

Yes it definitely seems like there must be more to the story. OP - what type of business is this? I'm curious because I know many restaurants/stores/hotels will send in "undercover" people as employees who then report back on the real goings on. Of course it normally takes more than 1 day to find 3 pages of dirt...

 

[barkley]

Your managers are spineless toads

Most places won't discuss salary, either.

it's not nesc. the decision of the managers to have this policy-in my case I worked for a public agency and this was the policy as set forth by h/r with the support of the elected board of supervisors for that government agency-in fact managers couldn't even respond to a call from a potential new employer, all were referred to h/r who would look at the employee's personnel file and only provide 3 items of information-dates of employment, final salary and if they were eligible for rehire. eligible for rehire was misleading though-unless a person was fired they were eligible for rehire so since it took an act of god and an extensive time consuming process to fire, the majority of employees saw the writing on the wall and would resign (b/c this also protected any vestment in retirement benefits down the line which they lost w/firing).

I think it was fairly common policy w/in public agencies in California b/c in hiring I never encountered anything other than the same policy.

 

[DawnM]

How strange. They worked for one day and figured it all out and addressed it?

 

[CPanther95]

How strange. They worked for one day and figured it all out and addressed it?

They probably wrote 3 pages about how they did not receive sufficient praise and validation for every single thing they did - which equated to a hostile work environment in their mind.

All businesses should have a stash of "Thanks for doing the Best Ever!" trophies to hand to these people as they're walking out the door.

 

[hereyago]

Sounds like something a 20 something snowball might do.

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

 

[PollyannaMom]

It reminds me of one of those TV shows - secret boss or something - as if they were brought in to observe, and not real employees in the first place.

 

[jrmasm]

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

In that case, have someone correct their spelling and grammar with a green pen and mail it back to them. Red pens make snowballs melt.

 

[etoiles]

Sounds like something a 20 something snowball might do.

I had something similar happen to me at a school I worked at and yes I believe it was a young snowball.

I was at a small charter school with only about eight teachers. The administration was all family and treated us non family pretty terribly so the teachers were a tight knit group as a result but did have high turnover due to the treatment.

So we met a new teacher at the training session at the beginning of the year. During downtime we joked with him about how he should be ready for his paycheck stop bounce, no budget, etc... It was all in a you're part of the teaching family now joking way but everything was true including the bounced paychecks. Well he quit after that day and wrote a letter to the administration saying that this was not the environment he wanted for his first teaching job and the teachers told him xyz, etc.... Well all the teachers got called in and read the letter and lectured about our behavior.

Nothing on the administration side changed after that, including the bounced paychecks.

 

[nkereina]

I think something like that is only appropriate if it's done in a certain way. At my work, Human Resources will perform exit interviews (when proper resignation notice is given) and that would be the best opportunity to be honest, but professional, about why you are leaving. I don't care how messed up a boss, employee, or office place is - I would never burn a bridge or suspend professionalism to go out with a bang like that. No matter how much reform the place needed.

 

[morgan98]

I think something like that is only appropriate if it's done in a certain way. At my work, Human Resources will perform exit interviews (when proper resignation notice is given) and that would be the best opportunity to be honest, but professional, about why you are leaving. I don't care how messed up a boss, employee, or office place is - I would never burn a bridge or suspend professionalism to go out with a bang like that. No matter how much reform the place needed.

I agree with this. I just cannot wrap my ahead around what they could have possible put in a three page letter after being employed one day! There is no way they could have enough background knowledge to know how screwed up something is. I am not saying that one cannot see strange things very quickly in an organization, but three pages worth in one day? Strange.

 

[Bec3b1g]

Any employer these days who does more than confirm that a former employee worked for them, for how long, and confirm the salary is looking for a lawsuit. And our corporate policy is that they can only answer yes or no to those three questions, so the caller has to have the information from the past employee. Our managers hang up if any other questions are asked.

That's similar to our policy (not the hang up part), although I offer a hold harmless agreement that my employees can sign if they want us to disclose more than the standard dates of employment, wage, job title, and eligibility for rehire.

The threat of litigation is real. Anyone can sue for anything and a frivolous lawsuit can cost a company thousands. It's best to operate in a way to minimize risk.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I had something similar happen to me at a school I worked at and yes I believe it was a young snowball.

I was at a small charter school with only about eight teachers. The administration was all family and treated us non family pretty terribly so the teachers were a tight knit group as a result but did have high turnover due to the treatment.

So we met a new teacher at the training session at the beginning of the year. During downtime we joked with him about how he should be ready for his paycheck stop bounce, no budget, etc... It was all in a you're part of the teaching family now joking way but everything was true including the bounced paychecks. Well he quit after that day and wrote a letter to the administration saying that this was not the environment he wanted for his first teaching job and the teachers told him xyz, etc.... Well all the teachers got called in and read the letter and lectured about our behavior.

Nothing on the administration side changed after that, including the bounced paychecks.

So on this person'S first day on the job he learned from multiple other teachers that paychecks often bounce and admin (all family with one another) treat the faculty very poorly, so he decided to quit before he and the kids were invested, and you see this as snowflake (or snowball) behaviour? How is expecting that your paychecks can be casehd and will not bounce being a snowflake?

Honestly, in a situation like that, I think he did the right thing, for himself by quitting (and for the students by doing so right away instead of hanging in there until he found other work and then interrupting their year to leave when he did).

Sending the letter, so the admin knows why they might have high turnover or difficulty finding new people also seems reasonable.

What is unacceptable is that the admin every acted this way in the first place AND that they called the teachers in and gave them a hard time for repeating the truth, instead of reflecting on how THEIR (admin's) behaviour is the root problem and making some changes.

 

[etoiles]

So on this person'S first day on the job he learned from multiple other teachers that paychecks often bounce and admin (all family with one another) treat the faculty very poorly, so he decided to quit before he and the kids were invested, and you see this as snowflake (or snowball) behaviour? How is expecting that your paychecks can be casehd and will not bounce being a snowflake?

Honestly, in a situation like that, I think he did the right thing, for himself by quitting (and for the students by doing so right away instead of hanging in there until he found other work and then interrupting their year to leave when he did).

Sending the letter, so the admin knows why they might have high turnover or difficulty finding new people also seems reasonable.

What is unacceptable is that the admin every acted this way in the first place AND that they called the teachers in and gave them a hard time for repeating the truth, instead of reflecting on how THEIR (admin's) behaviour is the root problem and making some changes.

Well while that is true there were good points about the job as well which was why most of us had been there a few years so yes to us it did feel rude and it felt tattled on. The administration didn't need a letter to know why people quit, trust me they knew. They didn't care and I agree they were the most wrong in that situation.

I guess to me the snowflake part was the part that he didn't want that environment for his first teaching job. Teaching can be very competitive and sometimes you have to take whatever job you get to get your foot in the door with experience. Who says the next job he landed would be in an ideal environment? Plenty of schools have issues.

 

[morgan98]

So on this person'S first day on the job he learned from multiple other teachers that paychecks often bounce and admin (all family with one another) treat the faculty very poorly, so he decided to quit before he and the kids were invested, and you see this as snowflake (or snowball) behaviour? How is expecting that your paychecks can be casehd and will not bounce being a snowflake?

Honestly, in a situation like that, I think he did the right thing, for himself by quitting (and for the students by doing so right away instead of hanging in there until he found other work and then interrupting their year to leave when he did).

Sending the letter, so the admin knows why they might have high turnover or difficulty finding new people also seems reasonable.

What is unacceptable is that the admin every acted this way in the first place AND that they called the teachers in and gave them a hard time for repeating the truth, instead of reflecting on how THEIR (admin's) behaviour is the root problem and making some changes.

I agree. In the circumstances you are referring to in your response, I too would be very concerned when co-workers were seriously telling me about bounced checks when I had only worked there for an hour or two. I consider myself a loyal employee, but I would not become too vested with an employer that could not pay me in a timely fashion. It may be one thing if you have invested years with an employer and they fell on hard times, but even then one of the main reasons I work is for a check. If I thought an employer could not deliver on this very important detail, I would find another opportunity ASAP as well.

 

[SparklePixie]

That's similar to our policy (not the hang up part), although I offer a hold harmless agreement that my employees can sign if they want us to disclose more than the standard dates of employment, wage, job title, and eligibility for rehire.

The threat of litigation is real. Anyone can sue for anything and a frivolous lawsuit can cost a company thousands. It's best to operate in a way to minimize risk.

Exactly. You say "yes, they worked here from this date to this date. Their job title was xxxx. Yes or no, they are/not eligible for rehire." Otherwise you open yourself and the company up to a potential lawsuit.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Around here, 1 day isn't nearly long enough to know how crazy we are. Heck, your computer's not even done being set up.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I guess to me the snowflake part was the part that he didn't want that environment for his first teaching job. Teaching can be very competitive and sometimes you have to take whatever job you get to get your foot in the door with experience. Who says the next job he landed would be in an ideal environment? Plenty of schools have issues.

There is a whole lot of middle ground between the "ideal" job and paychecks regularly bouncing.
As a fresh out of college person, with no real savings and possibly student loans, bounced checks may not have been something he could manage while waiting on admin to get their acts together. As a first teaching job, I would have had to wait for one that paid regularly and reliably and needed to find work in retail or anythign in the meantime, just to pay the bills!

 

[littleblackegg]

These people were there for 1 day, oddly enough, the powers that be wants them both to come back and be supervisors, lol.

Yes, that would not go over well, most of the employees come from snitches get stiches and rats get bats kind of world.

I don't understand. Snitching always meant to me one person revealing to some sort of authority figure serious breeches of law and policy, leading to the person being "snitched" on receiving some sort of punitive action. Is observing problems with the culture and function of an organization "snitching"? And on whom? And what would be the consequences of this "snitching?" It sounds like they had problems with the business dynamics and possibly the policies, too. Unless there is a real target who is behaving badly and receiving the brunt of the criticism and punishment, I wouldn't say they were calling one person out. Corporations are done with everyone "sticking together" to maintain a status quo. They want employees to point out areas where there can be improvement. This initiative is almost always rewarded, which is why they may be discussing the employees' return with greater responsibilities.