Followup from the earlier post…
Today I went to work. Contract number one said report at 9am on the 31st. Although in a protracted series of conversations on Friday, I was told by HR that they really wouldn’t want my presence there today, and my official start date should be in a month or so, in accordance with contract number two. Contract two was supposed to relate to a request I made to change my working hours, although it stated the same working hours as contract one.
I reported to the reception. They checked my name on the list of people that should be starting today. The name wasn’t there. Then the receptionist looked at another bit of paper, an email. She looked at the paper, looked at me, looked again at the paper, looked at me, gulped, and asked if I wouldn’t mind standing over there. “There” being a point that was somewhat distant and anywhere but in front of her desk.
She then took the bit of paper, probably an email warning what to do if I turned up (It ran to nearly a full side of A4, so there must have been instructions on calling the National Guard, the Ooompa-Loompas and three wizards from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office) and showed it to the trainer that was collecting the new staff. The trainer came over, introduced himself and he asked if I wouldn’t mind waiting there and he would go upstairs and get Kevin. Kevin is someone who lives at the other end of the country, who I have only ever spoken to on the phone, and who I certainly didn’t expect to meet in person.
A few minutes passed, and a tall woman appeared. Not what I expected Kevin to look like, but these are modern times. It turned out that Sarah was Kevin’s boss, and she asked if I wouldn’t mind having a wee chat with her.
So we went off into a lounge area. We had a pleasant chat, where she did apologise for the problems I have had. In short, on the working day before I was supposed to start my new job, a letter arrived telling me nothing more than I had a new start date. No other explanation was given in the letter. I was told that due to the problems I have experienced, the whole matter was being reviewed by a specialised part of HR. (In my experience, that particular department, when mentioned in the context of my previous employers usually means that they are out to fire someone. I would imagine I would have been that someone.)
Well I had a letter prepared in my pocket which I handed to Sarah. In it, I expressed my concern about the problems I have encountered, and closed my letter by resigning from the job which I might have started today. I also resigned from the job which was offered to me commencing June. The letter was CC the head of HR and the Managing Director (UK) Operations.
If I must be honest, I wasn’t so much worried about me being messed around, but I didn’t want anyone else, who might have been a bit more vulnerable than myself, to get messed around.
Suffice to say, I can never work in this organisation again. Bridges are very much burned.
On my way in, I spotted a very common security breach that, had I been so inclined, would have meant that I could have bypassed their security gates and walked straight into their more secure areas. Had they employed me I would have let them know. Not my problem any more.
TL/DR. You can’t fire me, you haven’t hired me yet.