Anyone ever heard of this?

Twice now recently, I've known of two different people who were offered high level jobs at two different institutions, well into six figures, that were contingent on the new employer's HR rep talking to the applicant's current supervisor/boss.

To me this is completely inappropriate, and puts the applicant at a huge risk while buying the new employer time and giving them an out if they change their mind. Is this a new or typical thing?

Both are in the non-profit world, so maybe that's a thing?

I worked in the non-profit world for 15 years - nothing I've ever heard of.

I guess, technically they can make your offer contingent on anything.

But I don't think this is normal practice, typically you have your references and a background check which should suffice.

WaltonBlanks08 said:

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Anyone ever heard of this?

Twice now recently, I've known of two different people who were offered high level jobs at two different institutions, well into six figures, that were contingent on the new employer's HR rep talking to the applicant's current supervisor/boss.

To me this is completely inappropriate, and puts the applicant at a huge risk while buying the new employer time and giving them an out if they change their mind. Is this a new or typical thing?

Both are in the non-profit world, so maybe that's a thing?

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Sounds like bad HR policy. You'd think HR would know the liability they are opening themselves up to when answering questions from another employer about their current/former employee. Anything beyond confirming your job title and the dates you work/worked for the company is asking for a lawsuit.

one MEEN Ag said:

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WaltonBlanks08 said:

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Anyone ever heard of this?

Twice now recently, I've known of two different people who were offered high level jobs at two different institutions, well into six figures, that were contingent on the new employer's HR rep talking to the applicant's current supervisor/boss.

To me this is completely inappropriate, and puts the applicant at a huge risk while buying the new employer time and giving them an out if they change their mind. Is this a new or typical thing?

Both are in the non-profit world, so maybe that's a thing?

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Sounds like bad HR policy. You'd think HR would know the liability they are opening themselves up to when answering questions from another employer about their current/former employee. Anything beyond confirming your job title and the dates you work/worked for the company is asking for a lawsuit.

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Yeah, this is the HR policy (or maybe the CEO's idea) of the hiring firm wanting to talk to the the current supervisor of the potential new hire.

It blows my mind that any HR person would think this is appropriate, but now I've seen it twice recently. I'm in oil and gas and this would be considered really stupid, but I didn't know if it's different in other industries.

To me, it's not on the potential hire to take on that kind of career risk.

EEOC would have a field day if someone turned that in

Haha. **** that.

I'm not putting myself in a situation where afterwards I don't have a home to go to.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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EEOC would have a field day if someone turned that in

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What do you mean? I think it's a gross overreach and stupid, but is there anything actually illegal about it?

They say the candidate would have a signed offer letter in hand before the call is made. I told the candidate then what's the signed offer letter worth if it's contingent on a phone call to ask God knows what to the boss who was just told they would lose a valuable employee and their life is about to get much harder if that employee leaves.

Even if the employee/boss had a good relationship, they are not going to be happy to lose someone valuable.

Most companies have a policy that when a potential new employer reaches out, they only say what the employee's title is, how many years he's been at the company, his job role because that way they don't open themselves up to a potential case with the EEOC such as negligent misstatement or discrimination.

Also say the former employer does give a bad reference and the new potential employer pulls there offer cause the old employer said untruthful or misleading things, which leads to the offer being pulled, then now it opens the new potential employer to possibly being turned in as well.

I see the possible sticky situation this puts the applicant in, but I love the intent -- why hire someone who won't be open and honest with their current supervisor about seeking opportunities for bettering themselves.

As a manager / leader myself, I absolutely appreciate my direct reports more when they tell me they're on the job hunt (vs. telling me they're out in 2 weeks). I feel it opens up the potential for meaningful dialogue. But then again, I'm not a sh/tty boss.

AggieBarstool said:

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I see the possible sticky situation this puts the applicant in, but I love the intent -- why hire someone who won't be open and honest with their current supervisor about seeking opportunities for bettering themselves.

As a manager / leader myself, I absolutely appreciate my direct reports more when they tell me they're on the job hunt (vs. telling me they're out in 2 weeks). I feel it opens up the potential for meaningful dialogue. But then again, I'm not a sh/tty boss.

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A lot of industries would walk you right out the door if they knew you were looking. Why invest more into you if you're just about to leave?

Because in a lot of situations that person would be let go and then jobless if they don't get the new role. I get wanting your employees to be open with you but for the potential new employer to talk to your current boss is absurd.

That is insane, stupid, and insulting. They should know better than to want to talk to current employer for all of the reasons stated in this thread.

I worked HR in the non profit sector briefly, they think that most labor laws don't apply to them. They think that "non profit" label is magical and will allow them to get away with bloody murder. I kinda likened it to Indian reservations, they think federal law doesn't apply to them when it does.

Haha - that's a pretty damn stupid idea.

I work in an area that involves a 3 tier system and recently a position opened with one of our suppliers that almost equated to a lateral move in job function but would have meant a possible 25-30% raise. The supplier was very interested in formally discussing the position with me but only if my current manager called them to tell them he gave permission to interview me. I couldn't chance the possible ramifications and dropped out.

AggieBarstool said:

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I see the possible sticky situation this puts the applicant in, but I love the intent -- why hire someone who won't be open and honest with their current supervisor about seeking opportunities for bettering themselves.

As a manager / leader myself, I absolutely appreciate my direct reports more when they tell me they're on the job hunt (vs. telling me they're out in 2 weeks). I feel it opens up the potential for meaningful dialogue. But then again, I'm not a sh/tty boss.

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Current employee:
Hey boss, I'm searching for a new job.

Current employer:
Allow me to give you more time to search. YOU'RE FIRED!

AggieBarstool said:

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I see the possible sticky situation this puts the applicant in, but I love the intent -- why hire someone who won't be open and honest with their current supervisor about seeking opportunities for bettering themselves.

As a manager / leader myself, I absolutely appreciate my direct reports more when they tell me they're on the job hunt (vs. telling me they're out in 2 weeks). I feel it opens up the potential for meaningful dialogue. But then again, I'm not a sh/tty boss.

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And if it doesn't work out and they end up staying, wouldn't it at least give you pause the next time they come up for a promotion?

If you don't think it would, I don't think you're being honest with yourself.

At both my currently employer and last employer, the company policy was that any call like this would be immediately forwarded to HR and HR would only be able to answer the standard questions (employee in good standing? eligible for re-hire?, etc). So, not much to gain from the new company making the calls...

BurnetAggie99 said:

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Most companies have a policy that when a potential new employer reaches out, they only say what the employee's title is, how many years he's been at the company, his job role because that way they don't open themselves up to a potential case with the EEOC such as negligent misstatement or discrimination.

Also say the former employer does give a bad reference and the new potential employer pulls there offer cause the old employer said untruthful or misleading things, which leads to the offer being pulled, then now it opens the new potential employer to possibly being turned in as well.

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At a former company I was at this was the policy and it had to go through HR. Current employees are not allowed to give references to current or former employees. Thankfully (and not surprisingly) several people left that I was on good terms with to get references. I did have someone ask if the could contact my last supervisor and I said you can try to contact them, but company policy doesn't allow for them to talk to you. They wanted additional supervisor references which I could understand, but except for two they still worked for the company. What am I supposed to do? I didn't realize how much their policy could hurt me when looking for a new position at a different company.

HR policies are to protect the company, never to protect the employee.

Are the employees paying the HR person or is the company? You want someone to protect you, get a lawyer and pay their wage.

That's the dumbest complaint I've ever heard about HR.

I was just stating a fact. I meet more people than you would think, and somehow they expect human resources to be different than their actuality.

I've gone through several interviews over the last year, and all of them will only reach out to references.

Hell, I started a new job in March and my new company flat out told me not to tell my previous employer until all testing results and background check came back, never know.

I also know of a guy who was offered a job and the new company called his current supervisor instead of the references. He was let go when they found out. So was the HR employee at his new company. Luckily for him it worked out and he got the new job. For that reason, I don't even list my current supervisor when applying. I just listed my work cell or personal desk number.