'Malicious Power Trip': HR Manager Tries To Put Exiting Employee on Blast Until the Internet Tears Their Story Apart

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    Font - Posted by u/theinvisibun Check with your boss about your availability? Sure! LOC A bit long, but there's a TL;DR at the end if you want! I'm the HR Manager of a medium-sized company based out of the United States. We are in an industry that relies heavily on most people having an assistant to manage their schedule, handle their phones, etc. I had someone tell me on a Wednesday that their assistant was leaving. Let's call the assistant Andy. I talked to Andy who said his last day would be
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    Font - Andy was a nightmare for the next week and a half. When trying to schedule interviews for replacements, he kept insisting on prioritizing certain candidates because he wanted to do it his way. He wouldn't follow our recruiting protocol and complained to his boss that we were pushing back, when we most certainly weren't. But the worst part was scheduling the transition meeting/exit interview. At my company, our policy is to conduct a transition meeting and exit interview together. I do the
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    Font - At first I had a time on hold with Andy to do an exit interview on his last day. He then emailed me and said he wouldn't be able to do an exit interview because his priority was wrapping things up for his boss (let's call him Ben). I let him know that I needed to be able to give him his final paycheck and additional information; he told me to just leave the paycheck on his desk. By this point I'm fed up with him because his emails are incredibly rude, so I cc my boss, the Head of HR (let'
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    Font - By the afternoon I'm over it. I tell Carol, who calls Andy. Carol says, "Hey, I heard from theinvisibun that she's having a hard time getting a hold of you to schedule an exit interview." He responds that he's just soooo busy wrapping things up for his boss and he really appreciates us following up but no, he won't be available, and if there are any issues, we can reach out to his boss. Cue the malicious compliance. Carol lets him know that this isn't optional, and that it'll only be 15 m
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    Font - A few minutes later, Andy comes by and is fuming. He demands that we do the exit interview at that moment; I calmly tell him that there are important documents I need to prepare which is why we are trying to schedule time. Carol then calmly tells him that there are policies and procedures to follow when you leave a company. The assistant says he doesn't appreciate us going to Ben, and that he felt really disrespected; Carol gently reminds him that he said it was ok to check in with Ben, a
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    Font - BGMcKay 1 day ago I worked at a place that should have been consistent with a previous employer regarding workplace racism and discrimination. It was not, and the manager and agreed I would not finish my probation. The union shop steward asked if I was willing to meet HR for an exit interview. I told HR about the issues that were against company policy and they were shocked. They asked the shop steward about the issues. His response was "I've been telling you this for over 5 years, but yo
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    Font - NotATroll1234 edited 17 hr. ago Even though I will absolutely NEVER opt to work for my last employer ever again, I chose to withhold some nasty comments in my exit interview. Reason for this was that I knew HR was complicit in some of the things I would have complained about. I'm glad I didn't, considering they owed me some serious $$ after being audited for some shady accounting/sales practices. I have several reasons to believe that they would've found a way to keep it from me if I'd sa
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    Font - Cfwydirk +4. 1 day ago You kind of lost me here. When trying to schedule interviews for replacements, he kept insisting on prioritizing certain candidates because he wanted to do it his way. He wouldn't follow our recruiting protocol and complained to his boss that we were pushing back, I don't do HR but, you let an assistant who is leaving have a say and let them prioritize interviews for their replacement? Crazy. 514 Reply Share jst3w 1 day ago My experience is that HR seldom has a clue
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    Font - profoak 23 hr. ago Exit interviews are absolutely optional. If you withhold an employees paycheck for hours already worked, that is a violation of the law. Doesn't matter if a corporate policy says so. Vote Reply Share
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    Font - fryingpas 1 day ago So, the problem here is that you immediately combine transition meetings and exit interviews. It's clear that Andy was leaving for some reason, and didn't want to discuss that with HR. Book two meetings, back to back. First is the transition meeting, and in the invite detail what this covers (everything you note above). The second is the exit interview. Employee can decline the latter meeting if there is nothing they want to discuss, and the former has a set agenda for
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    Font - I understand there are legal requirements in terms of benefits that needs to be shared. However, maybe try to document those, and send them out first. If the employee has questions, they can follow up in the transition meeting. If not, you can send them their final check and let them be. A reminder, outbound employees don't care one whit about your policies. Clearly, this is a process that can be streamlined for some (or possibly a majority) of employees, however your organization is also
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    Font - shontsu 1 day ago I tell Andy that there's more than just the final paycheck that I need to share, and that I'd be more than happy to share more about our company policies in our meeting. Yeah I laughed this. Like the poor guy cares about the company policies. He's already quit. Carol lets him know that this isn't optional Yes it is. 114 Reply Share
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    Font - o Candle86 22 hr. ago Good on Andy, but screw HR and exit interviews. Personal Exit Interview he'll story, but tl:dr Screw HR & Exit Interviews & Corporate America. I did ONE where I explained that I was harassed and lied to To My Face by my trainer, then WALKED OUT and told to surrender my badge when I argued back (worked for a certain evil cable & internet company, on the Corporate side in Tier 2 tech support. 3 layers of interviews said I was in Support and there was no Sales requireme
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    Font - 4 more weeks later and one of the folks in my class (we're fb friends) let me know they hit the floor & the dept head left & the new dept head out that team into commercial/business sales support, rather than the tech support they applied for. Half that team quit by week's end. My friend refused the exit interview & had to go through the dept of labor to get his last paycheck, cuz Evil Company held it hostage for the exit interview. Vote Reply Share
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    Font - Aneuren 1 day ago This was nothing more than a power trip by an insufferable HR department. The departing employee doesn't owe you jack shit and if this is how you handle your businesses it's not surprising that Andy is leaving. Reply Share Vote gredditannon 23 hr. ago Yeah I agree. Terrible HR, terrible treatment of an employee Vote Reply Share
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    Font - Grimjack0597 • 1 day ago I'm not sure how an exit interview can be mandatory. It's not like you can withhold his final check, if he doesn't want to do it 171 Reply Share
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    Font - Affectionate-Ad-6255 22 hr. ago Mandatory for someone who doesn't work for the company anymore? Lmao wut Vote Reply Share
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    Font - 4649onegaishimasu 1 day ago I didn't realize this was Malicious Power Trip. 59 Reply Share
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    Font - gr8ful_cube 1 day ago edited 1 day ago the exit interview is mandatory Literally won't acknowledge you until you're up his ass, basically threatening to withhold his check unless he does the "mandatory" time waster you created (for info that could fit in an email) when he's already nice enough to give you two weeks He "got argumentative" in a meeting about..his feedback of your company, which implies you disagreed about his feedback (he tried to avoid giving you) and made it an issue Actu
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    Font - VanillaCookie Monster +3 - 1 day ago People quit for a reason. When someone says No (albeit as polite as he could do it) to an Exit Interview just put your Checkmark down as "Refused Exit Interview". No one is required to give HR feedback. He very nicely asked you to leave his paycheck on his desk. The ONLY thing you need to do at that point is to report to your boss that Andy declined an exit interview. Jeezuz, he even ignored you in an elevator. This is why people don't give notice. You
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    Font - Alittlesoftinside. 9 hr. ago This. 100% this. You treat enough "Andy's" this way and pretty soon you'll find that employees stop giving notice. Maybe, if they really like their boss, they will tell their boss about their departure. But no one will give notice when they learn the HR just harasses them during their final 2 weeks. Sorry, week and a half. Vote Reply Share
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    Font - Sean Dewhirst. 1 day ago You are not fighting the HR Person stereotype. 35 Reply Share
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    Font - SM_DEV +1 - 22 hr. ago Exit interviews may be "policy", but are not required by law. OP may not like this, but "Andy" was in the right here. Further, "Ben" should have been counting his blessings, instead of throwing "Andy" under the proverbial HR bus. Vote Reply Share
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    Font - soulless_ape 1 day ago It's funny how this exit interview is made into such a big deal. In most places I've been very few if any people attended one. 11 Reply Share
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    Font - +2. 1 day ago You can decide that exit interviews are mandatory, and the company may view them that way, but when someone is heading out the door, they aren't mandatory for that person or under the law. You aren't the one in control at this point u less they let you be in control. Phocena 89 Reply Share
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    Font - Wifeof Bath1984 +1. 1 day ago Just an FYI, exit interviews are illegal to require in my state. Might want to check your laws. 23 Reply Share
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    Font - VanillaCookie Monster +3. 1 day ago I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE GUY WHO WAS FORCED TO GIVE AN EXIT INTERVIEW WAS "ARGUMENTATIVE" ABOUT!!! 15min is pretty short so someone can usually shut up for that long, even if irritated. I bet that will say volumes about the real work culture there and hassles dealing with HR. 45 Reply Share
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    Font - o bigbrothersag +1 1 day ago You all are bad at this. You cannot force someone to do an exit interview. He clearly did not want to do one and asked for his final pay to be left on his desk. All this could have been done via mail. That's your obligation. No one leaving cares about your internal policy. I hope you see the irony in your post saying that he was free to speak and give honest feedback but the culture was not conducive to achieve that objective. He was trying to stay on good ter
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    Font - 1 day ago Malicious compliance from an HR person expecting an exit interview from someone who loved the job so much they quit with less than 2 weeks notice. Hahahahahahahahaha. salaciousremoval Nope. Byeeeeee ↑ 19 Reply Share

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