trying to leave my job but not able to

jadematic

Hi I wanted to get some thoughts on my situation. I will explain the chain of events.

Employed for the past 4 years with the current company as the manager over the years the company had grown and did well under my management.

The owner who has a big drink problem decided to step in this year after not working for many years.


With his erratic behaviour I believed he was trying to cut me out of the company so I decided to setup a Ltd company as security should I have to leave, I was offered another job but decided to give the company one more go.


I continued to work and make money for the company however things haven’t got better. The owner contracted a friend in to manage my team and I was effectively side lined.


Recently I started to look at my options again. In the evenings I have been looking at potential business I could do if I leave and had started to build a test website. I have also had a number of interviews resulting in an offered.


The issue I have now is the owner found out about the company I setup earlier in the year which resulted in locking me out my computer, cutting my phone line, emails and changing the locks on the office.



We had a meeting which he accused me of fraud and said he had informed the police of everything. I asked him of what since I had explained I had never done any business and that it was created as a safety should I lose my job and all there was, was intent.


He stated that I had stolen company information and the database and had prof of this. I had taken files over the years and recently but this was to do my work for his company over the years and which can be shown by the business I have continued to do to date.


He then went on to add that he had seen the website and the work I was advertising, I informed him this was simply a test site and that was all it was and the company had no customers and never to done and financial business.


The meeting was left with an ultimatum, I can stay but would get a lower basic and a higher commission or he will take legal proceedings against me if I decide not to take this offer.


I feel I am being forced into this position I am not sure what he will do If I decide to leave however I know he will try to ruin the job offer if I take this. I certainly don’t believe I have committed fraud and if anything he could have me for gross misconduct. But even then I have done no business and only ever spoke to people about my intentions to start something up if I had to.


Please do let me know your thoughts on this as I have to meet him this week to discuss.

ValHaller

jadematic wrote: »

.... I feel I am being forced into this position

You mugged yourself by doing it all on company computers. You should have been doing this at home and kept the 2 separate.

Don't blame your boss, he is not being unreasonable.

You could try arguing that you would have been gone long ago because he was p"d out of his head so he ought to be grateful to you for keeping the show on the road and accept your homers as the price of that. And you could accept his terms subject to letting you take all the work for your homers away.

jadematic

just to confirm i never did anything from work. he found out the name by a doc I had but other than that I never did anything on their time.

and as far as it stands the company has never really started he is the one that got it into his head it had and that I have been doing things behind his back for 6 months. I have told him that not the case I am not going to keep explaining it.

And I believe the reason for setting it up are fair given I believed I would be out of a job and further to that I am aware that he owes a person who worked some years back over 300k which which he is trying to get out of paying to them. which I believe should be paid to them even if they have not made efforts to invoice it if he does have to pay this the company would struggle to continue.

RichardD1970

Sorry no expert but what is stopping you from leaving? You say you have done nothing wrong so what can he do? If he has locked you out of the office, cut off all your computer access and phone line then you can't work anyway.

phill99

I would be very surprised if he has gone to the police. Remember the onus is on him to prove fraud etch which by the Lund of it hasn't been the case.

I would just walk away and tell him whet to insert his job!

DCFC79

Thought i remembered the issue about the boss drinking etc, heres thread 1 started by the OP eary december and thread 2 nearly half way into december.

CKhalvashi

I'm completely with Phil here, and if there's nothing in your contract to state that you can't take on private work, there's no fraud.

With regard to the police, I fear that this may be a ploy to scare you into playing into his hands. I (as an employer) certainly see no reason to worry here.

CK

getmore4less

Why on earth have you got a test site public?

jadematic

I was messing about in the evenings building it in word press it was more about format and positioning didn't have much info on it was an error on my part and to be honest didn't expect anyone to see it. Or take much notice.

patman99

As long as you are not competing against your employer and have been carrying out all your 2nd business stuff at home, then I for one would be tempted to call his bluff and tell him where to stick his job.

If he did try dragging this issue through the Courts, then making public the fact he is a drunken incompetent halfwit will probably cost him more than his business.
Would he risk personal ruin ?. I doubt it. Anyway, by holding such allegations over you, isn't he himself committing an act of blackmail ?. This is a criminal act so the Police might well be more interested in speaking to him than to you.