Ethical Conundrum 1

[hilfy]

Please bear with me as I lay this out....

I work as a consultant for Company A. I am currently subcontracted through Company B, working at Company C. I have been here since last April, flying to NYC from Atlanta on Sundays and flying home most Thursdays.

The original contract was through the end of last year, but I was one of two people on the team from Co. B that was extended indefinitely. In December when this was extended I told the project manager from B as well as my boss from A that for various reasons I only wanted to stay until the end of April. The folks I work for are cool about it - we have more work than we have consultants to do it and we're not making much money from this particular contract.

In early February, my manager had not heard from the pm at B and when he was finally able to get get in touch with the pm in late Feb, the pm was talking like they wanted to keep me through at least September - he acted like I hadn't talked to him about April. At that point, through email, my manager told the pm in no uncertain terms that my last day would be 5/18.

It is now just over a month from that date and the pm from B has not told anyone at C that I am leaving. I'm concerned because I'm the only person working on what I do. C needs time to come up with a transition plan and find a replacement for me.

I feel like I'm in a no-win situation. I don't want the folks at C to think that this is a last minute thing and I'm leaving them in the lurch, but I'll cause problems in the relationship between B and C if I say something. I also have a big issue with the ethics of the pm at B over all of this.

I'm going to talk to my manager at A about this tomorrow because it's stressing me a bit. Anyone have any other thoughts or suggestions?

-Dell

A computer only does what you actually told it to do - not what you thought you told it to do.

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> I don't want the folks at C to think that this is a last minute thing and I'm leaving them in the lurch
I fully appreciate that and respect the loyalty to C, if you will, but as you well know, that's not your responsibility. You are between a rock and hard place, and I agree that you should not talk directly with C. I would send the pm at B a written note reminding him/her of you last workday. And by all means, continue to keep your manager at A fully aware of the situation, and I would copy him/her in on your written note to the pm at B.

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[hilfy]

I emailed my manager at A last night along with his boss who is co-owner of the company. I'm supposed to stay out of the politics of all of this and they are going to email the pm at B. If they don't get a response, they'll go to his boss about it. Unfortunately, from some other things I've heard, this is part of how B often does business. So, if we don't get any more work from the, my manager feels it's no big loss.

-Dell

A computer only does what you actually told it to do - not what you thought you told it to do.

 

[kmcferrin]

That's an ugly no-win situation that is not at all uncommon when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Do what your bosses at A say. When your last day comes and you're turning in your access cards and what-not to company C, if someone says anything about not giving notice then tell them that you gave notice over a month ago and let it go at that. You'll want to protect your professional reputation from the tomfoolery from B.

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[hilfy]

The folks at B finally told C just over a week ago that I am leaving. B is now scrambling because their agreement with C is that they will give 2 months notice so that a replacement can be found. Since my boss at A gave well over 2 months notice to B, they're sticking to their guns and B is just going to have to deal with it (we're probably not going to be doing any more subcontracting through them because of the way they've handled this.)

My manager at C was pretty upset about the short notice so I made sure he knew the exact date that my manager at A contacted B with my end date - I will NOT let the folks at B mess with my reputation! I also let him know that I'll be available to answer questions (within reason) after I leave. B is talking with A about the possibility of bringing me back in for a week to train my replacement once that person has been hired and passed all of the background checks that C requires. I'm willing to do that because I really don't want to leave the folks at C hanging - I like the manager here and I also see this as part of protecting my own reputation. My boss at A is the one who suggested this so we'll see what happens.

So, all of this is working out ok at this point. B has egg on their face over this, but that's neither my nor my employer's problem and I'm not going to get caught up in it.

-Dell

A computer only does what you actually told it to do - not what you thought you told it to do.