Extremely Unethical Behavior

[Raya1234]

I interviewed for an assistant job 6 weeks ago which went incredibly well. I felt like it was a great fit, and was asked immediately to help her write two letters of recommendation for 2 of her family members as she is very busy and this could give her a sense of my writing skill. I worked really hard on it and she asked if I could come in the next week to work with her for a few hours. She was very happy with my writing and at the end of the day, she said she would be in touch.

 

I didn't hear back for 2 weeks as she was out of town for holidays, but she called and verbally offered me the position. She discussed working hours and said she thought I was going to be great for the job and was really excited to work with me. She asked if I wouldn't mind going in on a volunteer basis for the next two weeks while she was away for a few hours a couple of times each week as she had been in hospital and needed the help, and also so I could get a feel for the office until my first official day when she got back.

 

I considered these days as training and a great opportunity for me to get to know her office and staff before working directly with her as her assistant and was happy to do it. I worked 16 hours unpaid over those two weeks helping out on a project and with to do lists.

 

Before she got back, she basically rescinded the offer, saying she needed to meet with me before making a final decision.

 

I was really surprised and felt something was off but I stayed positive and confident anyway. I met with her the next week where she said everyone enjoyed working with me, it was a great fit and continued to speak in terms that I will work these hours, start in a week, she will get me a computer, basically all language that verbally promises work but did not offer me a contract. I worked again with her for 4.5 hours that day without pay. I came in again 2 days later, worked with her again for 4 hours and she asked if I would attend an event with one of her staff the next day. She said that she wanted me to work for 2 weeks on a trial basis, paid (uh, yeah, like it should be) and then at the end of the 2 weeks we could reassess and make a final decision and told me the reason for her hesitancy was because she has had high turnover in the position (last 3 people stayed only between 7 and 11 months)

 

I have been doing this for the past week and she has been out of the office. I have had absolutely no training or guidance the entire time and have been left to my own devices with everything but have worked hard, stayed confident and met the challenges I faced to the best of my ability.

 

A few days ago, I received a call from someone saying he was returning her call about a reference for someone she wants to hire. I saw this person's CV in the main folder she gave me to work on (I was not snooping at all at this point) with a lot of notes and recent dates for when she was available. As she was out of the office, I looked into it and it turns out, 2 days after she offered me the job, she started corresponding with another person who also came in to work with her and her staff once, and has been lying to me and misleading me about everything the entire time. She is either just having me do these 2 weeks because she needs someone until the other person is available (her available starting date is right after the 2 weeks) and is misleading me into thinking she just needs time to be sure, or she is extremely non committal and has unreasonable expectations about what is ethical and normal.

 

Either way, I have worked a total of 36 hours unpaid on the premise that after the verbal offer, the job was mine. It was not out of the goodness of my heart or for the experience. I have lost an entire month now of my job search and I feel completely used, regardless of whether or not she offers me a written contract after these 2 weeks.

 

I am completely dumbfounded at her morale. I don't know what to do. I could really use the money, but it is going to be extremely difficult to work with her, even for this next week, with this in the air.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Raya1234

[d0nnivain]

Call the Department of Labor in your state & file a complaint through the Wage & Hour Division.

[rester]

A verbal offer is meaningless. I'm sorry you had to go through this, and yes, it is unethical on their part, and in my personal opinion really low and sleazy, but you agreed to work without a written contract or offer. NEVER do that.

 

If an employer does not agree to go through the written formalities of the hiring process, you do not want to work for them.

 

I am completely dumbfounded at her morale. I don't know what to do. I could really use the money, but it is going to be extremely difficult to work with her, even for this next week, with this in the air.

 

Tell her you cannot continue to work without pay and that you need a written contract. Either you get that or you walk. That's what I would do. Don't work for free for one more second.

[CarrieT]

She asked if I wouldn't mind going in on a volunteer basis for the next two weeks while she was away for a few hours a couple of times each week as she had been in hospital and needed the help, and also so I could get a feel for the office until my first official day when she got back.

I'm sorry, your mistake was accepting her suggestion that you work for free. It showed that you don't value your own time and self so why should she?

 

I would take the entire experience as a learning situation and move on. She laid the groundwork for you to be used and you walked right into it. It showed her that she could use and abuse you and you let her do it.

[GemmaUK]

Hands right up here - this is the worst employment story I have ever heard.

 

I have no idea if you could file a complaint - I'm not in the US so I don't know the legalities.

 

I am so sorry this has happened to you.

 

I have never been asked to work as unpaid to cover or trial and I would never agree to it - we don't do that in the UK. You work, you get paid (unless the job is specified as voluntary - eg: for a charity).

 

All I can say I that I suspect she has trodden all over many others before you in that she said her staff turnover is so high.

That in itself is a big red flag when seeking employment.

 

I hope you can get some recompense but I would advise you not to go near this person again.

[CarrieT]

Another thing... You said this:

I considered these days as training and a great opportunity for me to get to know her office and staff before working directly with her as her assistant and was happy to do it. I worked 16 hours unpaid over those two weeks helping out on a project and with to do lists.

 

But then you said this:

Either way, I have worked a total of 36 hours unpaid on the premise that after the verbal offer, the job was mine. It was not out of the goodness of my heart or for the experience. I have lost an entire month now of my job search and I feel completely used, regardless of whether or not she offers me a written contract after these 2 weeks.

 

You accepted to work a job without a written confirmation of a job and you agreed to work for free. I understand that AFTER THE FACT, you want to get paid and don't feel you did it out of the goodness of your heart, but the fact of the matter is that you agreed to do it and you did.

 

It was terribly wrong of her and, yes, you were taken advantage of, but I don't believe you have much recourse.

[Zapbasket]

Do you have any voicemail or email from this woman that offers you the position, or that alludes to an offer having made, with a mention of start dates or compensation or this set-up of you working for free for a probationary period but the job is yours? Anything.

 

If so, look into how one files a complaint for such a thing, or perhaps someone here knows (sorry I don't). Do this now, and if you can prove that she did actually offer you the job and you accepted, then you might be able to get retroactively paid for the 36 hours you worked.

 

I would then tell this woman that you cannot work this job. Don't give an explanation unless she asks, and even then, I'll leave it to other posters to suggest whether to tell her what you found, or whether to leave it very vague. I would go with telling her what you found as long as she can't accuse you of snooping, but I wouldn't let myself be swayed by what I'd expect to be her attempt to tell you that it's not what you think. If she sees you standing firm in your decision to leave, she might offer to pay you out of fear of you exposing her dirty deed.

[CC12]

I am completely dumbfounded at her morale. I don't know what to do. I could really use the money, but it is going to be extremely difficult to work with her, even for this next week, with this in the air.

 

I know you could really use the money and you want a job really badly, but do not work with her again. Cut your losses and move on. It will only get worse with her. You do not want to be employed by someone who would pull that kind of shady ****. You will be dealing with her unethical behavior for your entire time there. Don't do it.

 

Honestly, she's the worst kind of person to work for and the sooner you can disassociate yourself from her, the better. Keep looking for another job and don't ever agree to work for free again. You deserved to be paid for all that "get to know us" and "on a trial basis" time.

[elaine567]

Is it possible she may be hiring two people?

[Raya1234]

Thank you all so much for your help!

I now understand I should not have started working without pay and a signed written offer. She told me it was because she was in hospital for a week (she has a health condition) and I thought it would be difficult for her to draft while away, and it would be of great help to her and good for me to get a head start before her return, and I was very eager to take the position and thought it would prove my hard work and loyalty would merit her decision. I do realize now that it was a mistake.

 

I never suspected anything like this would happen, considering a part of the job is working with her charity organization (my background). The pay for this job is very good and she is incredibly well connected and an extremely influential person that is intelligent and seemingly very kind and ethical. It is a great opportunity. I just know most people are not this unprofessional and especially didn't think this would go for someone as charitable and well-respected as her. Sometimes people who run charities can blur the lines between compensation and volunteer work, but this goes beyond anything I have ever heard of.

 

I looked into it further yesterday and it turns out she had corresponded with her other assistant in the office 4 days after offering me the job, telling her she had a phone interview with the other candidate, was very impressed, and she wanted to have the other candidate come in and work with the staff for a few hours to see her skills and said she wanted this person to be her assistant instead if they liked her, asked her to compare us, and not to tell anyone else in the office about it and she would interview her when she was back. Upon speaking with others, it seems some people in the office are unhappy in their jobs and feel overworked and under-appreciated and I can imagine have a lack of trust if this is how she operates.

 

Basically what this says is that she has just been stringing me along and using me until she could make a decision between us and prefers the other person, but didn't want to completely rescind her offer until she met her in person. I now think there is a good chance she is just using me for these 2 weeks until the other person is available to start full time.

 

I do have a lot of evidence to back my claims that she offered me the job and changed her mind after and have been working for her.

 

My question is, how to I leverage my position to the best of my abilities? The fact is, I NEED a job and am now one month behind where I could be on the search. I know how well connected she is and that she could probably find me a good one with referral and a bit of effort. That would absolutely be the ethical thing for her to do. I no longer want to work with her on any level at this point and am supposed be going in for another week. I am worried that if I refuse now, I won't get paid for this previous week.

 

Should I show her what I know and pressure her to find me a job, go to the labor division to file a complaint, or just quit right now all-together being I have no guarantees? I deserve to get something out of this and need the money. I guess there are no guarantees I will even get it being as there is no written agreements and I have been working with her on a trust basis.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Raya1234

[CarrieT]

The fact that you have all this documentation would lead me to present it to the labor division and see if you have recourse.

 

Of course, at this point, you wouldn't want to work for this duplicitous person, but you might be able to leverage the situation into another job.

 

Frankly, I'm shocked that you are still working for her based on what you have learned.

[Zapbasket]

 

Should I show her what I know and pressure her to find me a job, go to the labor division to file a complaint, or just quit right now all-together being I have no guarantees? I deserve to get something out of this and need the money. I guess there are no guarantees I will even get it being as there is no written agreements and I have been working with her on a trust basis.

 

At first, I was thinking you were in a sticky situation.

 

The truth is, though, that it's not sticky at all.

 

She might be influential, but one thing about work circles is that there are always people who know the real person, if there is a facade going on. You are no doubt not the first who has encountered this woman's shady side.

 

I am no expert, but my deepest conviction is that the best career move is ALWAYS to separate yourself from deceitful people. Your career and life are not ruined if you don't have anything further to do with this woman, especially if your choices and experience show your quality and integrity.

 

Tell her you can't work for her. Do NOT go in next week. Do NOT give her an explanation. I know this is in opposition to what I advised before but after reading your latest post, I think silence and mystery are the best ways to rise above the situation. So you say this:

 

"Dear ___:

 

"You had asked me to work an additional week, gratis, before our agreed-upon start date of ___, __, 2016. I am sorry that it will not be possible for me to work for you this coming week, and I must also rescind my acceptance of your job offer for the ____ position. I have long admired your organization for its _____ and ___ [blah blah], and so I regret that this seems to be the only acceptable recourse at this point.

 

Cordially,

Raya [Last Name]"

 

If you really want it to have punch, add the line, "If you have any questions, please contact my attorney, __________ at _____." But if you don't have an attorney, leave it out.

 

She either will a) know exactly why you are bowing out, or b) not knowing that you know she groomed another candidate after offering and you accepting the job, she will feel relieved that now she can go with the other candidate and not give it much thought.

 

But YOU, either way, will go forward with all dignity, self-respect, integrity intact. And, "gain" a week on your job search!

[Got it]

Contact the Department of Labor. You have recourse through them.