Previous job as reference.

[shibby1111]

This topic may have been discussed in the distant past but times have changed and I am wondering what your current thoughts are. Do residency programs contact previous employers? In my situation, I have posted my two-week notice at my current job. My supervisor wants me to sign a document that lists mistakes I made throughout the 2 years I worked for this company. They include some documentation errors, mislabeling, mis-referencing, etc.( very minor mistakes, didn't affect data or results). They say this is just to be able to say they had a discussion with me about those errors should there be an audit in the future. This document makes me look like an idiot, though. Do you think I should sign the document and depart from the company on good terms? Or, not sign the document, leave on poor terms, but not have a document that I signed acknowledging hyperbolized mistakes?

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[ThoracicGuy]

I would be very surprised if they called any non-medical employer. The only people I could see any program director calling would be if you were a resident in another program and wanting to change/switch to their program. I could be wrong, but I just don't think residency programs really care about your pre-medicine jobs.

 

[shopsteward]

This topic may have been discussed in the distant past but times have changed and I am wondering what your current thoughts are. Do residency programs contact previous employers? In my situation, I have posted my two-week notice at my current job. My supervisor wants me to sign a document that lists mistakes I made throughout the 2 years I worked for this company. They include some documentation errors, mislabeling, mis-referencing, etc.( very minor mistakes, didn't affect data or results). They say this is just to be able to say they had a discussion with me about those errors should there be an audit in the future. This document makes me look like an idiot, though. Do you think I should sign the document and depart from the company on good terms? Or, not sign the document, leave on poor terms, but not have a document that I signed acknowledging hyperbolized mistakes?

This sounds like an unusual request from the company. Is this for an internal or external audit? Why does it go back two years when most audits only cover the most recent year? Is it a financial audit, an audit of the security of information, or what?

Are you sure that your supervisor is acting in accordance with company rules and policy? Or are they trying to cover their own back in some way, by being able to blame the person who has left?

So, first thing you do is check the company rule book, and perhaps also with your supervisor's boss, to work out exactly what is going on here.

Second thing you do is work out what you might want in return for signing the document. You want your full pay up to the date you leave, with no deductions. What about any bonuses you are due, or pension contributions? What about references? Anything else?

If you do sign a document, make sure that it contains every possible qualifier above your signature, such as the exact reason for the creation of the document, the purposes for which it can be used, the consequences of the mistakes listed (ie that they did not affect data or results), that the company acknowledges that it has no claims of any sort against you and that you are leaving with good status and with an entitlement to references to that effect.

Keep a copy of anything you sign.

Don't know whether it is worth your asking (and paying) a lawyer for advice. If you are in a trade union or a professional body, they could help you.

 

[shibby1111]

This sounds like an unusual request from the company. Is this for an internal or external audit? Why does it go back two years when most audits only cover the most recent year? Is it a financial audit, an audit of the security of information, or what?

Are you sure that your supervisor is acting in accordance with company rules and policy? Or are they trying to cover their own back in some way, by being able to blame the person who has left?

So, first thing you do is check the company rule book, and perhaps also with your supervisor's boss, to work out exactly what is going on here.

Second thing you do is work out what you might want in return for signing the document. You want your full pay up to the date you leave, with no deductions. What about any bonuses you are due, or pension contributions? What about references? Anything else?

If you do sign a document, make sure that it contains every possible qualifier above your signature, such as the exact reason for the creation of the document, the purposes for which it can be used, the consequences of the mistakes listed (ie that they did not affect data or results), that the company acknowledges that it has no claims of any sort against you and that you are leaving with good status and with an entitlement to references to that effect.

Keep a copy of anything you sign.

Don't know whether it is worth your asking (and paying) a lawyer for advice. If you are in a trade union or a professional body, they could help you.

This document is definitely so they can blame someone else down the road. My supervisor even said something along those lines. They are concerned about an audit on the validity of data that I generated during my experiments. It actually comes down to this: did I or didn't record the pH of one solution in real time. I wrote the pH on some scratch paper then entered it in a computer program at a later time.

You brought some excellent points to my attention. I will suggest some revisions to the document they sent me and require them to have their legal team review before I consider signing. Only problem is, they want it signed no later than this morning. I put in my two weeks 7 business days ago. Maybe they will walk me out this morning. Oh well, at least I won't have a damning and defamatory document floating around with my name on it. I will let you know what happens.