Inform employer about interviews elsewhere?

gonthemicrobe

Hi all

Due to family reasons, my partner and I may soon have to move to a city around 80 miles away. It's not realistically commutable to my current job and after I asked about the possibility of working remotely, I was told it will not be an option.

I'm currently interviewing for roles in the other city so am having to take a lot of days and half days off of work. I don't have the best strike rate at interviews and the jobs I'm applying for usually require more than one, so there's every chance this will continue for a while.

If my employers don't already suspect I'm planning to leave, they likely will soon. Should I be honest and explain that due to personal circumstances I'm using up these holidays to attend interviews? I have a pretty good relationship with my superiors and have done well at appraisals. The line manager who approves my holidays didn't seem to have a problem with the idea of me working remotely, but the boss wouldn't consider it at all.

Takeaway_Addict

gonthemicrobe wrote: »

Hi all

Due to family reasons, my partner and I may soon have to move to a city around 80 miles away. It's not realistically commutable to my current job and after I asked about the possibility of working remotely, I was told it will not be an option.

I'm currently interviewing for roles in the other city so am having to take a lot of days and half days off of work. I don't have the best strike rate at interviews and the jobs I'm applying for usually require more than one, so there's every chance this will continue for a while.

If my employers don't already suspect I'm planning to leave, they likely will soon. Should I be honest and explain that due to personal circumstances I'm using up these holidays to attend interviews? I have a pretty good relationship with my superiors and have done well at appraisals. The line manager who approves my holidays didn't seem to have a problem with the idea of me working remotely, but the boss wouldn't consider it at all.

What would it benefit? If they're allowing the holiday then just go with it

steampowered

Personally I would keep quiet about it. They might suspect it, but there is no reason to draw attention to it. But I think I would be honest if the employer asked explicitly whether I was planning to leave.

gonthemicrobe

"Keep quiet" seems to be everyone's advice but when I'm taking 1 - 1.5 days off weekly with no explanation I'm uneasy about that. They can quite easily turn round and just refuse the days off if they know what i'm upto.

I'll go with this approach though, as the other might be interpreted as effectively handing in notice.

Ozzuk

If you are 100% intending to leave and have a good relationship with your manager then I'd be open and tell them you are thinking of moving on and the reasons why. State it that you love working there and this isn't an easy decision but the move means commuting every day is too much.

Also do consider the bigger picture - only you know the reasons for moving, but weigh these up against the risk of a new job. Could you commute to deal with the family issue rather than the other way around? You may be in an industry where it is easy to change, but just remember you'll have pretty much no protection for the first 2 years of employment, pensions will be impacted, you may not get same level of holidays etc.

Or you may get a better job, close to home, better terms etc!

bugslet

gonthemicrobe wrote: »

"Keep quiet" seems to be everyone's advice but when I'm taking 1 - 1.5 days off weekly with no explanation I'm uneasy about that. They can quite easily turn round and just refuse the days off if they know what i'm upto.

I'll go with this approach though, as the other might be interpreted as effectively handing in notice.

It really depends on the relationship with your boss and the culture of the firm.

If you worked for me, I'd hope that you would come to me and say. People move on, unless the boss is a wombat he will accept that. You have valid reasons for doing so and at the same time it gives you the chance to say how much you've enjoyed working there, sorry to be going, don't intend to leave them in the proverbial and keep things sweet for your remaining time.

TELLIT01

Explain to your boss that you will be leaving the area, and because senior management won't/can't agree to remote working you have to find another job.

Planet_Switzerland

I've known people before to state their intention to leave a job for personal reasons and it's not been an issue. I once worked with an Italian who wanted to move back to Italy, it was around 18 months later when he actually left. Then less than a year later he moved back to the UK and went back to the same job as Italy didn't work out for him.


They may actually appreciate the heads up so they can ready themselves for when you do actually hand in your notice.

kingfisherblue

Don't forget that if you are using up your holidays at such a fast rate, you might owe your current firm when you leave. If your holiday year starts in April, for example, you won't have many days accrued as yet. Although your current firm may be allowing 1-1.5 days a week holiday, they are likely to want them back if you do leave, so remember to factor that in when making your decisions.

getmore4less

why tell them any more than you have already?

You ask to work remotely presumably with a case to back it up, will be moving, long commute, more productive working from home some/all days etc....

unless you want to put another proposal like compressed week so you could work say Mon/Tue Thur/Fri with 2 return commutes + 2 overnight near the office I would leave it where it is.


Your immediate boss should knows what's going on, it is their job to deal with the fall out...
put to the senior management for remote working
put a recruitment plan in place.
Make the plan for one person less.
(they may even be happy that someone will leave as they can cope with distributing the workload and save a bit of money)


I would try to optimize the interviews with more than one a day as the travel time will be quite high.


Does the company you work for have any offices any nearer?

Malthusian

Planet_Switzerland wrote: »

They may actually appreciate the heads up so they can ready themselves for when you do actually hand in your notice.

From a purely selfish perspective, this is why the OP should keep quiet for as long as possible. They said they "may be" moving 80 miles away - that suggests they might not be, and even if this plan is final, final plans can also change. At present they don't want the employer to hire someone to replace them and give them their notice. It might take six months to find a new job - they don't want to be unemployed for months on end.

The OP will have a notice period (either contractual or statutory) - this is all the length of time that the employer needs to ready themselves. If they need more, not the OP's problem.

The OP's manager may well figure out what is going on but for all they know the OP is having secret liaisons or embarrassing cosmetic surgery or something. If they are sensible they won't ask as long as the OP's holiday-taking is not disruptive.

gonthemicrobe wrote:

They can quite easily turn round and just refuse the days off if they know what i'm upto.

They could but it would be obnoxious and irrational in the extreme. They aren't going to be able to stop you from leaving by preventing you from going to interviews, and what's the point of holding on to an employee who is burning with resentment?

You have a right to take holiday; the employer can stop you from taking it on a certain day but they can't stop you from taking it entirely. If they refuse to give you a certain day off then you ask when you can take it. And then schedule your interviews on it.

In reality it is very unlikely they will refuse to give allow you holiday just because they think you're going to an interview. They probably don't know; if they do know they can't be certain; and if they're certain, it makes no sense trying to chain you to the desk anyway. The problem you will have if they become certain that you are interviewing is that they may show you the door before you are ready, not obstructing your interviews.