A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a friend. She was in a panic: her husband’s boss told him he had the option of being bumped down to an intern or resigning. The intern job came with intern level pay and responsibility, of course. They placed a legal document in front of him and begrudgingly gave him 24 hours to sign it, or he would be fired.
Now, this took place in Switzerland, and my friends are also expats. I don’t know much about Swiss employment law, but I do know this: any time someone wants you to sign a legal document without giving you enough time to review it and consult with an attorney, it’s not in your favor and you should walk away.
Now, this is scary, because their immigration status depends on his job and if he were to be fired, they would have to leave the country within three months.
To keep reading, click here: Knowing this One Truth Saved My Friend’s Job (and It Could Save Yours)
I want to demote that boss to an intern.
Unfortunately, this scheme occurs more often than made public. Thanks for the advice about not signing without consulting a lawyer. A few of the companies here in the USA, tired to do this when they laid off their employees as part of their bankruptcy procedures, trying to claim money for the cost of the bankruptcy.
I was working at a retail computer store as the Technical Manager back in the 1980s when a new conglomerate bought our local store. They were out of Chicago.
The new manager shows up, walks into the tech area and asks me to his office. Ultimatum: You will sign a non-compete or you won’t have a job. (I was making 29K annual at the time.)
I said, “Sure! Just had a 0 to my annual salary and guarantee it for 4 years. I’ll sign your non-compete.”
“That’s unreasonable!”
“So is your demand.”
“You won’t have a job by end of day.”
“I can walk out that door and have 4 job offers in the next 4 hours. But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it. You want to make me move out of state if I don’t like your treatment of me, and judging from our first meeting, I’m not gonna like your treatment of me…”
None of the techs signed. I went to competitor about 6 months later because, yeah, they were flat-out, bad people to work with.
One reason I won’t patronize Jimmy John’s is because they make their drivers sign non-competes.
Good for you!
A couple years ago Jimmy John’s was forced to stop requiring non-competes and enforcing those that were signed. Doesn’t mean you have to patronize them, just wanted to set the record straight.
Thanks for the update, Ginger.
I really like their sandwiches. (And the occasional Choc Chip Monster cookie.) But I couldn’t see my way clear to patronizing them under the circumstances.
Yum!