Remote employee quits, boss forces them to travel across the country and stay 3 months to finish their work: 'No is a complete sentence'

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  • A man looks confused sitting at a desk
  • Being forced to travel to office after giving notice.

    I work in a completely remote role for the past 6 years. Recently the startup I work for got acquired by a big corporation. I got a decent payout from the deal and I decided I now work to be on my terms. I will move into consulting or contract roles which do not dictate how many hours I work in a week or on the country I work from.
  • The reason of quitting was simply because I am fed up with the same gruealing work environment and mental breakdown from work. I wanted a sabatical but they denied that. I want to take time off to disconnect and stay calm for a while.
  • Gave a standard 1 month notice to my employer. They first put a lot of pressure on me stating the acquition and migration is at risk with me quitting at this time. Then we worked on a deal for me to have an extended notice of 3 months and they will pay me a portion of my retention bonus.
  • Now they are asking me to also come to the headquater office, 1500km away from me, for 1-3 weeks. I have categorically deniend stating that I have already accomodated by extending my notice period and because my father in law met with an accident and I am taking care of him.
  • But they are still forcing me to take atleast 1 week for travel. When I questioned the reasoning behind why the KTs cannot be done online what i got was a bit around face to face of bulls interaction is needed to know a co worker, bla bla.
  • I am going to say no and burn bridges if it comes to that at this point. I am fed up with their requests at this point. I know I hold institutional knowledge that I am willing to transfer, and this is because I was always taking ownership of stuff when no one else did.
  • Why cant my resignation be handled simply? Why cant they follow the same KT process that was followed for so long effectivelly before acquisition? Why does a physical presence mandatory? Am I being dramatic here?
  • A group of people sit around a table at work
  • Commenters gave their takes on the story.

    frys_grandson If they need you that bad that they need to extend your exit, you have the leverage. If they won't accommodate your needs, rescind the extension.
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply I dont think I am that useful or critical. I am not sure why they want a broken down employee around for that long. But they feel they need me, but are forcing me to come to office. I think I will be the a h le and say no.
  • frys_grandson Why do you care so much about it that you are questioning if you are an AH? They obviously don't care enough about your needs, so treat them like they are treating you.
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply Its mosly to not break any professional bridge I have made so far. I want to leave as nicely as possible.
  • smljones65 It seems odd that on one hand they state explicitly that they need your services and then in the other hand they are obviously alienating you. If everything is above board clearly you should decline traveling. Maybe I'm too suspicious but I wonder if the agreement you made on extended employment somehow put you in a bad position. Did you agree in writing to the extended terms?
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply It has not been finalized yet and HR has not sent me the agreement yet. They are discussing it on calls mostly at this point so as far as I am concerned my original end date of employment stays till we agree on terms.
  • Cheap_Knowledge8446 You need to read your contract for the payout very, very carefully. This sounds like they're pushing you very hard to force you to quit. Could be because there's some contractual fuckery at play. Make sure there will be no dire consequences, then quit.
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply Yeah not sure about it. At one hand they say they want me and secondly they are pushing for office days. I have already put in my resignation and they want me to serve a linger notice period with a short stint on the office. My gut says dont go to office handle all KTs online, but I am torn between staying professoonal and saying no outright.
  • HSG1984 Who is responsible for paying the hotel and food?
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply Hotel and travel they will pay. Food and any other expence will be mine.
  • kannur_kaaran which country are you in? Why do u have a standard 1 mon notice period?
  • blind_organic_matter Original Poster's Reply India, we have 1 month standard notice here across all corporates.
  • schrutesanjunabeets No is a complete sentence. Nobody can force you to get on a plane and go anywhere. Just say no.
  • BlueberryPenguin87 Don't go. What are they gonna do, fire you? You think that bridge is worth being saved when they treat you like that?
  • Apocolypse Joe You really need to grow a backbone and say no. Tell them that your resignation date is going to stand, and that you want a prepaid return shipping label so that you can ship them back their equipment. Tell them if they send you one more request, that you will adjust your resignation to effective immediately.
  • thenord321 It's straight up retaliation and a power trip of management to keep you in line. You gave in with the already very generous notice, and now they are abusing it. In north America 2 weeks is standard notice. More is only for directors or c-suite executives because it could derail big decision making. I'd tell them that you agreed to 3 months continued working "as is" and will assist with knowledge transfer but that any attempts to change your working conditions will lead you to reconsid

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