Need some advice: Can an employer fire you for seeking another job?

[no limit]

My friend got another job offer and she really wants to take it. But before she can they will have to call her current boss for a reference. She is freaking out not only that once her boss finds out she will be fired but that the boss will lie on the reference. Are there any laws that protect her in this regard? I told her to call her HR department tomorrow when she gets the number but if anyone here could offer some advice I would appreciate it.

[EFerrari]

1. No, but they can fire her for "something else". The way this usually goes

is the new boss calls for a recommendation without saying they are hiring her away, e.g., "Hi, I'm calling to verify employment." -- that could be a lender or some other credit provider or a prospective landlord. They ask all the same questions.

[ogneopasno]

2. Whoo, she kinda blew it! It depends.

She better get to her boss first and let the boss know that she's looking for another job and a reference call is coming, and that she will take this job. She had better hope that her company has a policy that managers can only confirm employment, not judge an employee's work. And she better hope her boss doesn't say something like, "Well, this is certainly unexpected!" in the reference phone call. If she doesn't get the job, she can file a complaint alleging that the bad review from the boss kept her from getting a job, but that's kind of a pain to do, and does anyone really want to sue to get a job?

[no limit]

4. Well the call hasn't been made yet, that's why Im asking

that was my advice, to have her tell the boss that she is looking for another job.

[EFerrari]

6. She really doesn't need to tell her boss she's shopping and imo, shouldn't.

BUT, she needs to make sure anyone calling her present employer can be trusted to get information and not to give it out.

[NashVegas]

3. Most Are Limited In What They Can Say

But there's a huge difference between, "yes, she is employed here" and "you can't have her!"

[liberalhistorian]

5. If she's an at-will employee, as most Americans are, unfortunately,

then she can be terminated at any time for any reason they may choose. And she should NOT, by any mean, call her HR dept. HR is not a friend of employees. They are there to back up and support the company and its management, period.

What she needs to do is to talk with the people who want to hire her at the other job and explain the situation and that she'd prefer they not contact her boss directly. If they want to confirm her employment there, they can call HR and do so without letting on who they are or why they want to know. Most applications ask if they may contact current employers, so they might be understanding of her fears in that regard. If they really want her for the job, they'll work with her on it.

[gratuitous]

7. What liberalhistorian said

Ditto everything.

[no limit]

16. thank you, I have passed this on to her. It was my advice to have her call HR, I feel stupid

luckly she hasnt done that yet. Thanks again!

[Greyhound]

8. Technically; possibly, it depends on state laws. Practically; absolutely. It's done every day. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

9. It's not customary to call the current boss for a reference

For obvious reasons like this.

Why does is have to be the current boss? Has she never worked anywhere else before?

[ferrous wheel]

10. If that's all it would take to get her fired, she's probably not much of an employee anyway.

I know somebody will jump my shit for saying that but it's true.

[no limit]

12. you're not making any sense

she isn't some high paid employee and can be replaced easily, like most people in this country.

[Brazenly Liberal]

11. If they lie on the reference and she ends up unemployed because of it, she can sue

It's pretty unusual for a company to call your current job to check references, though. Didn't she think to ask them not to? Tell her to call the new company first thing in the morning and ask them NOT to call her current employer because it could cost her the job she now has. They've heard that many times before and won't think anything negative about her asking it. If they refuse, she doesn't want to work for them anyway - they're assholes and she's lucky to know in advance - and she should tell them to forget about it, she's no longer interested.

In any event, giving a false negative reference is grounds for a lawsuit. These days, most employers don't want to take any chance on landing in court, so they give out an absolute minimum of info. Dates of employment, title, salary are all the facts a lot of employers are willing to give out.

[BlooInBloo]

13. I think typically employers can fire you for any reason she or he wants...

Except the usual race, religion stuff.

I thought that's what "work at will state" meant (or whatever the phrase is).

[Cleita]

14. We have practically no rights when it comes to this.

If her current employers are decent they won't interfere with her desire to move on. I wish her the best of luck

[rufus dog]

15. She may want to reconsider if she wants a job at a company that wants to call her boss

As stated above most companies have policies that you can only provide dates of employment and salary ranges.

The big question is why a new employer wants to talk to her current boss. Could be a power play on the part of the new employer, make her sweat a little waiting for the offer. To me it smells and she could be walking into a bad situation.

[EFerrari]

19. In general, it's just to check out if what she wrote on her application is true.

When I'd call, I'd just say I was doing a credit check. That way I could ask how long, about performance in general, if she was likely to keep her job (I may be garbling some of this). But, most people who do these checks know how to do them without getting their prospective new hire fired if they are currently employed.

[Tesha]

17. An "at will" employee can be termninated for anything anytime *EXCEPT*...

...for being a member of a "protected class".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_class

So yes, you absolutely can lose your job for seeking a new one;
it just happened to a famous sports coach.

Tesha

[Still Sensible]

18. Generally they cannot, per se

however if you use the employer's resources to look for another job, that's usually a different story. According to my company's HR, we're not supposed to say anything about an employee other than to confirm employment if we get a reference call.