Case Study: Talk About Mixed Messages!
Jim has accepted a position with Mega Corporation. The firm's recruiter had emphasized Jim's great potential with the firm, as did everyone who met with Jim when he visited the company.
A week later an unexpected headline appears in the press—"Mega Corp. merges with Super Mega Inc. and will layoff 2,000 'redundant' workers. Mega has decided to lay off workers to avert impending bankruptcy." Jim calls the firm and the recruiter assures him that everything is just fine and reconfirms that Jim has great potential with the new company.
Jim remains quite shaken and goes to his career services director. He says that he is considering reneging on his acceptance, given the new, distressing information in the press.
Questions to consider:
- Put yourself in the shoes of the career services director (read:
what would you like the career services director to tell Jim if
this was your company), what do you say to Jim?
- What are the ethical obligations of the company regarding its
offer to Jim and the information given to Jim during the interview
about the company?
- What if, a month before Jim was to commence employment, you (the recruiter) are told that Jim's position has been "re-engineered" out of existence. What are your obligations to Jim? Does it make any difference if he has relocated? Does it make a difference that Jim will be graduating in 2 weeks?
Steps to Resolution
1. What relevant facts are known?
a. Jim accepted the position one week before the lay-offs were announced.
b. The recruiter assured him that "everything is just fine", i.e., the position was not in jeopardy.
c. Jim is considering reneging and seeks guidance from his career services' director.
However, we do not know the following:
d. Is the reported information accurate?
e. What is Mega Corp.'s history in regard to layoffs and how they have handled them?
f. Are the layoffs in Jim's division/unit, or similar positions?
2. Identify the NACE Principles in question.
a. Career Services # 10—"Career services professionals
will advise students about their obligations in the recruitment
process and establish mechanisms to encourage their compliance.
Students' obligations include providing accurate information; adhering
to schedules; accepting an offer of employment in good faith; notifying
employers on a timely basis of an acceptance or nonacceptance and
withdrawing from the recruiting process after accepting an offer
of employment; interviewing only with employers for whom they are
interested in working and whose eligibility requirements they meet;
and requesting reimbursement of only reasonable and legitimate expenses
incurred in the recruitment process."
b. Employment Professionals #3—Employment professionals
will supply accurate information on their organization and employment
opportunities. Employing organizations are responsible for information
supplied and commitments made by their representatives. If conditions
change and require the employing organization to revoke its commitment,
the employing organization will pursue a course of action for the
affected candidate that is fair and equitable."
c. Also, according to the Position Statement on Rescinded and
Deferred Offers by the NACE Principles for Professional Conduct
Committee, "if the offer must be revoked, it is strongly
encouraged that assistance to the affected candidates be made which
may include, but is not limited to:
- Reimbursement for expenses incurred n their acceptance of employment, such as travel and relocation expenses.
- Provision for short-term financial assistance.
- Services to aid the candidates in securing other employment."
3. Put yourself in the shoes of the career services director
(read: what would you like the career services director to tell
Jim if this was your company), what do you say to Jim?
Based upon the facts as presented in the above scenario, and consistent
with "Career Services Principle #10," the career
services director should advise Jim against reneging on the offer
as a result of information reported in the media. If the recruiter
has provided assurances that "everything is just fine",
until that fact is known to be untrue, the student has an obligation
to accept this offer in good faith. The career services director
should also offer to contact the company to verify the reported
layoffs and that Jim's job is not in jeopardy.
4. What are the ethical obligations of the company regarding
its offer to Jim and the information given to Jim during the interview
about the company?
As stated in NACE "Employment Professionals" Principle
#3; "… supply accurate information on their organization
……. Employing organizations are responsible for the information
supplied and commitments made by their representatives. If conditions
change, ……. the employing organization will pursue a course
of action for the affected candidate that is fair and equitable."
5. What if, a month before Jim was to commence employment, you
(the recruiter) are told that Jim's position has been "re-engineered"
out of existence. What are your obligations to Jim? Does it make
any difference if he has relocated? Does it make a difference that
Jim will be graduating in 2 weeks?
If the position that Jim was to assume in one month has been eliminated,
the company has an obligation to inform him as such immediately
and to provide assistance and/or compensate the candidate with the
following actions:
- Reimbursement for expenses the candidate incurred in the acceptance of employment, including any relocation costs.
- Services to aid the candidate in securing other employment. This might include looking for other positions within the organization, assisting the candidate in finding positions elsewhere, or engaging the assistance of an outside firm to help the candidate obtain comparable employment.
- Provision for short-term financial assistance, if permitted
by the organization. For example, federal agencies are prohibited
from assisting candidates in this manner.
