#WorkDilemma #HR #EmploymentIssues
Hey everyone! 🌟
So, I’m in a bit of a pickle with my boss and HR at the moment. Here’s the deal – my current position is grant-dependent, and my boss let me know a few months ago that there isn’t enough funding to keep me on after June 30. No biggie, right? Well, here’s where it gets weird.
My boss wants me to tell HR that I’m leaving because I found a new full-time job, even though the real reason is lack of funding. 🤔 He won’t give me a clear explanation as to why this is necessary, and it’s making me feel uneasy.
Have any of you been in a similar situation before? Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Possible solution:
– Have a candid conversation with your boss to understand his reasons for asking you to lie to HR.
– Reach out to HR independently to inquire about the separation process without disclosing the false reason provided by your boss.
– Seek guidance from a mentor or trusted colleague for advice on how to navigate this tricky situation.
Let’s discuss! 💬
It seems very odd that he is asking you to lie to HR. Personally I’d be very wary about lying to HR…..
Could it be he didn’t give you enough/proper notice? I work in a similar environment and different researcher categories require different amounts of notice – most at 3 to 6 months but some as long as a year and it must always be provided in writing. At my job, if a PI fails to give proper notice, they need to do so asap and are obligated to employ you through the notice period. If they don’t have a research grant, the stipend needs to go their discretionary funds.
He has funding. He wants to keep you PT to train the next person who tgeg are probably going to pay less.
I would go talk to HR right now and tell them the whole story.
If you resign, you may lose the right to unemployment benefits. You should be honest with HR and tell them you are not resigning – you have been told that your position has no funding to pay you, which makes your job obsolete. If you resign and accept a part time position, you will be a new employee for all intents and purposes without any rights to severance, vacation pay, or claims regarding your previous seniority.
Don’t lie. This does nothing to benefit you and can only hurt you.
Make it clear to HR that you have not resigned. You’ve been told your position is eliminated due to funding.
Sounds like he might be giving himself a raise at your expense and wants you to lie so he doesn’t get in trouble for misusing the the grant money he’s been given
If you’re grant-funded, and they don’t have the funds to keep you, then it sounds like your boss failed to apply for the grants they were supposed to.
That would be why they want you to tell HR you’re quitting on your own, instead of letting them know the boss didn’t get the money they were supposed to apply for.
Quitting for another job means you don’t get unemployment. Contract ending, or even a reduction to part time will allow you to collect benefits.
NEVER lie to cover for a boss that’s letting you go.
You do realize he’s no longer your boss (or even an acquaintance, likely) once you leave right?
If you’re asking because you feel that he is giving you an *advice* and it would benefit *you* to do that, then that’s a different story. Although it really doesn’t look like he is. He didn’t even explain a reason to you.
He received the proper funding and doesn’t want you to know.
Sounds hella fishy, like misappropriated/embezzled funds-kinda fishy. Why lie? If the funding truly has been exhausted there would be clear documentation and also your work contract (if there was one) would have stated so.
Tell your truth. What if the Boss truly is mismanaging the funds and plans to place the blame on you?
If you are let go due to lack of funding you can get almost certainly get unemployment, if you leave voluntarily for (almost) any reason you cannot. This guy is looking out for himself only, not you. Tell HR he told you they were out of funds and you were terminated involuntarily at the end of the month.
Having worked in, and run, grant funded programs and working in HR, all I can say is this seems suspish.
You are two weeks out from your end date. Now is the time to reach out to HR and start the off boarding process. Email or call them. Tell them your last day is June 30 due to cessation of funding and ask for an appointment to discuss your off boarding.
Your job ending due to lack of funds qualifies you for unemployment. Your job ending because you found another job disqualifies you for unemployment. That is enough reason not to lie.
Also, don’t count on being brought back part time. You boss is offering that as a carrot to get you to lie for him. If he can afford part time funding, he could just have your employment status changed instead of having you leave the job completely.
Something is off about this whole thing. Please reach out to HR. Protect yourself and be above board about this. Stop discussions with your boss and talk to HR.
Sounds like your PI is doing something shady with the funding. When asked by HR why you are leaving, say “I was informed there are not enough funds to renew my position.” Do not lie and be transparent. Your PI would not put himself at risk to protect you, trust. Personally, I would not want to work for an unethical investigator and I certainly wouldn’t jeopardize myself to protect one.
Never, ever lie about why you’re leaving a role. Especially if you’re being let go. Obviously different jurisdictions have different benefits for individuals let go from a role, but if you quit you get ZERO benefits.
And that doesn’t even touch on the fact that your manager is TELLING you to lie. And not just lie that you’re quitting, but also lie that it’s because you’ve gotten a full time job. Something super sketchy is happening there… maybe misappropriation of grant funds, maybe having promised your role to someone else, maybe something else entirely, but do not lie to HR.
Your loyalty is to Yourself and your own future, not what makes it easy for your boss. Submit your resignation for the reasons your conscience decides. It’s a decision only you can make.
If he is asking you to lie he’s dodgy as hell. Not even trying to explain makes it even worse. You should tell HR what’s going on.
Ask him! Just a guess, but maybe he wants to use it as evidence that he needs an approved FTE, not grant funded, because he’s losing good staff to other companies that can offer FTE positions? He’s the only one who really knows why he’s asking this.
It sounds like he did something that he doesn’t want HR to know about. Otherwise, what reason would he have to not want you to be honest with HR.
Maybe he’s using department funds in a way that he isn’t supposed to or he’s trying to allocate it to someone else who shouldn’t be getting it. And the company is not aware because he’s the one who controls where the funding is put after it’s gone intothe department fund.
You should be honest with HR. There might be company benefits that you should be getting because your position was essentially eliminated and he may be trying to avoid the company compensating you for that. It also could be that the options you have after your employment is terminated, changed drastically when the reason for your termination is that there isn’t funding for you.
Either way lying to HR is not going to help you in anyway, and it could hurt you in a lot of ways.
And unemployment benefits not being qualified for?
He’s hiding that he can pay you so that the funding can go elsewhere.