????親愛的安妮：我拜讀了您那篇關(guān)于出于道德考慮而辭職的文章,，我自己的情況多少與此也有點(diǎn)相關(guān)，因此向您提問,。最近我和老板發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)執(zhí),，部分原因就在于道德問題，此后我被迫離職,。我和律師以及本地的勞工委員會(huì)談過,，由于我被解雇的情況很不尋常，他們都認(rèn)為如果我決定起訴這家公司的話,，我很可能能夠贏得官司,，可是我無意卷入曠日持久,、成本高昂的訴訟。
????不過,，我和人力資源部門達(dá)成了離職協(xié)議,，其中一個(gè)條款就是：如果有人要求原雇主提供離職證明，公司不得透露我離職的原因,?？墒牵覒岩汕袄习暹`反了這份協(xié)議,，因?yàn)橛屑夜颈緛硪呀?jīng)答應(yīng)聘用我,，但招聘經(jīng)理與我的前老板聯(lián)系后卻反悔了。我該怎么辦,？重申一下：我真的不想打官司,。——諾姆
????親愛的諾姆：這個(gè)問題相當(dāng)常見,，并不像你想得那么特殊,。就算沒有離職條款來專門限制前雇主不得說離職雇員的壞話，多數(shù)大公司也都有統(tǒng)一的政策,，除了員工的在職時(shí)間和工作頭銜之外,，不得透露其它任何信息。
????不幸的是,，如同其他眾多公司政策,，上述規(guī)定也得不到切實(shí)執(zhí)行。
????Allison & Taylor公司專門分析推薦信的真實(shí)含義,，公司執(zhí)行董事海蒂?艾莉森指出：“約99%的情況下,，我們打電話要求提供推薦材料時(shí)，對(duì)方都不問我們是誰,，就開始大講特講,。”
????人們一向容易逾越應(yīng)有范圍,，透露過多信息,，這不是什么新鮮事，不過艾莉森指出,，經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退開始后,，這個(gè)問題更嚴(yán)重了?！叭耸虏块T現(xiàn)在有許多年輕而缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)的員工接聽電話,，有時(shí)候我們給經(jīng)理們打電話，但卻會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)到這些年輕員工那里，他們甚至?xí)鹱种鹁浒亚皢T工的整個(gè)個(gè)人檔案讀給我們聽——無論好話,、壞話還是廢話,。”她說
????“還有些公司根本就不再設(shè)立內(nèi)部的人事部門,，”她補(bǔ)充說,，“因此咨詢前員工表現(xiàn)的請(qǐng)求會(huì)被轉(zhuǎn)到其他方面的員工那里。他們忙得很,，這本來也不關(guān)他們的事情,，況且他們也不熟悉公司的相關(guān)政策，因此傾向于想到什么就說什么,?！?/p>
????就連不甚熱情的語調(diào)或者簡明扼要的“無可奉告”都有可能像負(fù)面評(píng)價(jià)一樣影響你的形象。那么,，如何保證向潛在雇主提供的“推薦人”不會(huì)毀掉你的前途呢,？
????考慮到你的情況，你有理由認(rèn)為前老板違反了離職協(xié)議,，那么解決方法之一是請(qǐng)律師以你的名義發(fā)一份“停止侵權(quán)警告函”，重申離職協(xié)議的條款,，要求前雇主恪守協(xié)議,。 |
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????Dear Annie: I read your article about quitting over ethics, and I have a somewhat related question about my own situation. I was recently forced out of my job, following a dispute with my boss that was partly about ethics. I spoke with both an attorney and the local labor board, and because of the unusual circumstances surrounding my firing, they both think that I could win in court if I decided to sue the company, but I'm not interested in a long, costly legal battle.
????However, I did work out a separation agreement with human resources. One of the provisions in it states that my former employer will not discuss the reasons for my departure with people who ask for a reference. I suspect my old boss is violating this agreement, because I just had a job offer withdrawn after the hiring manager contacted this person. Keeping in mind that I really don't want to sue, what can I do about this? –Norm
????Dear Norm: This problem is a lot more common than you might think. Even without a separation agreement that specifically prohibits a former employer from badmouthing an ex-employee, most big companies have blanket policies in place that permit references to confirm nothing more than dates of employment and job title.
????Unfortunately, like so many corporate policies, these are honored mainly in the breach.
????"About 99% of the time, people we call for a reference don't even ask who we are before they start talking," says Heidi Allison, managing director of Allison & Taylor, a firm that specializes in finding out what people's references are actually saying about them.
????People's tendency to reveal more than they're supposed to isn't new, but Allison notes that it's gotten worse since the recession started. "HR departments now have a lot of young, inexperienced staffers answering the phones. Sometimes when we've been referred to them by managers we've called, they've read us someone's entire personnel file verbatim -- the good, the bad, and the indifferent," she says.
????"Or some companies have no in-house HR department at all anymore," she adds. "So a request for a reference gets shuffled around to employees in other areas. They're busy, it isn't really their job, and they may not be familiar with company policy, so they have a tendency to say whatever pops into their heads." Yikes.
????Even a less-than-enthusiastic tone of voice or a terse "no comment" can be as damaging as a negative remark. So how can you make sure the people you're giving as references aren't sinking your prospects?
????In your case, where you have reason to believe your boss is violating your separation agreement, a possible solution is a cease-and-desist letter, written by an attorney on your behalf, reiterating the terms of the agreement and requesting that the boss abide by it. |
