Current Boss blackballing / stopping job move
Discussion
Not me, but a good friend.
A good friend has worked in Financial Services head hunting for around 20 years, always been a top performer and making his numbers, until COVID. As he was on mainly commission (his choice, low base but high commission), when pandemic hit he went down to minimum wage. There were some employees who had joined just before Pandemic, took massively high bases and low commission and predictably left after the pandemic as they could not hit targets. This cost the company dearly.
They moved everyone from monthly commission to bi-annually and mid level bases after pandemic.
Last year my mate was the top performer for Q1 ad Q2 (the MD thanked him for paying for his new Taycan S) then the mini budget hit and the industry took a hit. He billed very little in Q3 and Q4.
Come this year and the owner is looking to sell and in Jan began rounds of pulling people into "Gross Misconduct disciplinary hearings" and letting people go with no notice. They did this to him and he challenged "gross misconduct" and they had to back down as they couldn't prove anything aside from lack of performance.
He went to market and one of his clients were interested in hiring him as an internal recruiter, conversations went well, he had placed many senior members and the non-solicitation clause in the service agreement was due to be pulled in May, so he would apply in May. This was all infomral.
Yesterday it turns out that his boss has gone to the CEO of the other company and come to a "gentleman's agreement" that he will not be hired and they will not consider him. He has since found out that the CEO has been doing this for a lot of people in the industry. Essentially blackballing him.
He has been told he will be out of the company soon if he doesn't hit his targets.
As all of this is "behind closed doors" of an old boys club and all verbal, there is little can do?
Sorry for the long post. I do really want to help him, but I don't know if I can. He's struggling as it is and it seems his boss is out to ruin him out of spite and nastiness.
A good friend has worked in Financial Services head hunting for around 20 years, always been a top performer and making his numbers, until COVID. As he was on mainly commission (his choice, low base but high commission), when pandemic hit he went down to minimum wage. There were some employees who had joined just before Pandemic, took massively high bases and low commission and predictably left after the pandemic as they could not hit targets. This cost the company dearly.
They moved everyone from monthly commission to bi-annually and mid level bases after pandemic.
Last year my mate was the top performer for Q1 ad Q2 (the MD thanked him for paying for his new Taycan S) then the mini budget hit and the industry took a hit. He billed very little in Q3 and Q4.
Come this year and the owner is looking to sell and in Jan began rounds of pulling people into "Gross Misconduct disciplinary hearings" and letting people go with no notice. They did this to him and he challenged "gross misconduct" and they had to back down as they couldn't prove anything aside from lack of performance.
He went to market and one of his clients were interested in hiring him as an internal recruiter, conversations went well, he had placed many senior members and the non-solicitation clause in the service agreement was due to be pulled in May, so he would apply in May. This was all infomral.
Yesterday it turns out that his boss has gone to the CEO of the other company and come to a "gentleman's agreement" that he will not be hired and they will not consider him. He has since found out that the CEO has been doing this for a lot of people in the industry. Essentially blackballing him.
He has been told he will be out of the company soon if he doesn't hit his targets.
As all of this is "behind closed doors" of an old boys club and all verbal, there is little can do?
Sorry for the long post. I do really want to help him, but I don't know if I can. He's struggling as it is and it seems his boss is out to ruin him out of spite and nastiness.
Afraid to say I think the only route would be employment tribunal, but it depends on what actual evidence your friend has that his CEO has done any of this. You say he's found out it's happened to others, again how do they know this?
The case sounds pretty weak, but if there is some actual evidence then best bet would be all those affected coming together and taking the company to tribunal together. Maybe the threat of this would prompt the current CEO to back down.
That said, the company he was going into doesn't sound great if their CEO is happy to play games like this with his current CEO and deny him a job. Does he really want to go and work for the same kind of person he's escaping now?
The case sounds pretty weak, but if there is some actual evidence then best bet would be all those affected coming together and taking the company to tribunal together. Maybe the threat of this would prompt the current CEO to back down.
That said, the company he was going into doesn't sound great if their CEO is happy to play games like this with his current CEO and deny him a job. Does he really want to go and work for the same kind of person he's escaping now?
Wildfire said:
Yesterday it turns out that his boss has gone to the CEO of the other company and come to a "gentleman's agreement" that he will not be hired and they will not consider him. He has since found out that the CEO has been doing this for a lot of people in the industry. Essentially blackballing him.
This is illegal.The only way it could be legal is if the current employer is likely to loose money as a result of the employee going to another company. This is covered under 'gardening leave' within the contract. But beyond that, it is illegal to prevent a person taking employment elsewhere.
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