Retaliation for Leaving

[Anonymous]

I'm leaving my job and have given notice. Since that time, my boss has been doing things that are definitely retaliation for my departure. What do you do? Do you accept it and move on? Do you take them to task?

[Anonymous]

Can you post specifics without giving away your identity? Do you have a formal HR department?

[Anonymous]

- Make a formal complaint to the HR office
- Pursue action with your compliance office (if you have one)
- File action with the EEOC http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/retaliation.cfm

[Anonymous]

How much notice did you give? Can you just ignore the tasks?

[Anonymous]

I do not agree with above posters. I think you are getting some bad advice. HR exists to side with your boss, so only involve them if you want your boss to know how you feel.

First, do you need your boss for future references? If no, I say draw some lines. You could say things like "you've given me the following 12 things to accomplish before I leave. As you know, I am only here 5 more days and cannot work longer than 8 hours each of those days. I'd like to make sure I'm prioritizing correctly. What order of importance do you give these 12 items?"

Second, is there an advantage to sucking it up beyond "getting" the reference? E.g. are there other cohorts who will be glad you covered Y before you left? Etc. If so, then I'd do it, but I'd emphasize repeatedly to the important people the effort you are putting in. Such as sending an email to the cohorts and your boss stating "I recognize it's important to project Y that I assist you with.... I'm happy to help you with this account and have done the following things." Don't let your sucky boss take credit or complain about you behind your back. Cover yourself by documenting your efforts. In one job, I left a memo where all my correspondence, memorandum on project schedules and budgets, etc were (files and file names, etc.) AND I send copies of the memo to all the people who had a stake in the projects. That way my boss couldn't make snark after I left.

[Anonymous]

I'll give you examples;

1) Almost daily, angry meetings with me. Finding something insignificant every day to yell at me.
2) Pulling me out of meetings with clients and telling me that I can no longer attend.
3) Telling me that I can't take sick days because I'm leaving.
4) Negative comments on every single work document (even ones written by someone else).

etc.

HR has no power here, so the only other option is going to his boss. I'm not sure I want to do that.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me years ago. I chose to ignore it and to "take the high road." Big mistake. After I was gone, I learned the extent of what was happening (badmouthing, telling others not to speak to me, act as a reference, etc.). People at other companies heard some the malicious comments and there were consequences (damaged reputation that had to be rebuilt).
I regret to this day that I didn't go to HR and get this behavior "on the record" when I had the chance. Had I done that, I'm convinced that this person would have stopped immediately out of fear of HR, lawsuit, etc. Use your power while you have it. What is happening to you is not right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll give you examples;

1) Almost daily, angry meetings with me. Finding something insignificant every day to yell at me.
2) Pulling me out of meetings with clients and telling me that I can no longer attend.

HR has no power here, so the only other option is going to his boss. I'm not sure I want to do that.

Your boss has the right to know about the things that affect your client, so I would use this as a means of correcting the situation pronto. You could request a meeting that is focused on the best possible transition for Client X. You could describe specific behaviors that are detrimental to the long-term project with Client X. You could make a recommendation about how to help Client X remain with the company.

This is worth it if you want your boss's boss to respect you after you leave, otherwise your boss will get to tell the story as he'd like.

[Anonymous]

For how much longer are you there? I would treat this differently depending on it's a short time (a couple weeks) or a few months.

[Anonymous]

Also, he can't really tell you not to call in sick - the long term consequences are gone. Call in sick if you have to - he really can't do anything about it (if you have the sick leave).

[Anonymous]

OP, it's pretty obvious you are not going to get a positive reference ever out of this situation, but I would involve HR at this point and let it be known that you're experiencing a hostile work environment now that you've given notice, just so you have it on record. Also, try to take copious notes and communicate with your boss via email only.

As far as what you've detailed:

1) yelling at you in meetings-- not ok (not ok even if you HAVEN'T given notice, by the way)
2) taking you off of projects --well, yes, you won't be there soon
3) you can't call in sick --yes, you can--follow your company policies (look them up)
4) negative comments --gotta suck this one up

You might even try saying to your boss and anyone else who might listen: "Look, I'm trying to be as professional as possible during my last few days here, and I want to make the transition as easy as possible on the team. What can I do/document to make things easier for you?"

Also try to line up references (peers, other colleagues besides your boss) that you can use if you can't get one from him eventually

But trust me, your boss sounds like a piece of work. Hang in there, don't loose your cool, it will be done soon enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- Make a formal complaint to the HR office
- Pursue action with your compliance office (if you have one)
- File action with the EEOC http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/retaliation.cfm

Employment lawyer here.

Retaliation in the EEOC link you provided mean retaliation for filing an EEOC claim. (You file a discrimination claim and your boss retaliates for that). It's not retaliation for leaving. What is happening to OP isn't illegal and it's not covered under EEO law or any other law. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

well are you taking sick days to burn them up before you leave? This is why most companies don't have sick days and just give PTO.

[Anonymous]

OP, may I ask what city you live in? Some cities have offices that can help with this very thing -- they take on the role of the EEOC, essentially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it's pretty obvious you are not going to get a positive reference ever out of this situation, but I would involve HR at this point and let it be known that you're experiencing a hostile work environment now that you've given notice, just so you have it on record. Also, try to take copious notes and communicate with your boss via email only.

As far as what you've detailed:

1) yelling at you in meetings-- not ok (not ok even if you HAVEN'T given notice, by the way)
2) taking you off of projects --well, yes, you won't be there soon
3) you can't call in sick --yes, you can--follow your company policies (look them up)
4) negative comments --gotta suck this one up

You might even try saying to your boss and anyone else who might listen: "Look, I'm trying to be as professional as possible during my last few days here, and I want to make the transition as easy as possible on the team. What can I do/document to make things easier for you?"

Also try to line up references (peers, other colleagues besides your boss) that you can use if you can't get one from him eventually

But trust me, your boss sounds like a piece of work. Hang in there, don't loose your cool, it will be done soon enough.

This is not a "hostile work environment." A hostile work environment involves sexual harassment or race or gender discrimination or some other form of illegal discrimination.

People don't seem to realize that it is perfectly legal for your boss to be mean to you.