SINGAPORE: An ex-employee shared on an online forum that his former company requested him to work on an assignment even after he left.
“The higher-ups are aware that I’ve started work in my new job, and yet they still requested for me to finish up the assignment for them as they believe that “it shouldn’t take me too long” to finish it,” he wrote on r/askSingapore on Wednesday (May 1).
During his time with the company, the employee stated that he always did his part and provided estimates of when he could provide updates on the assignment.
However, despite his diligent efforts, challenges arose due to issues within the assignment and his former team.
He explained that the assignment was poorly managed, with no clear deadlines, delayed follow-up actions, and an incompetent team with a high turnover rate.
“I had continued to work on the assignment even till a day after my last day of work, to help facilitate better handover.”
When he left the company, he mentioned that the assignment was only halfway completed, and he had passed on the finished part to the higher-ups for them to carry on with the work.
Unfortunately, they have kept contacting him to this day.
“They had requested (pretty passive aggressively + guilt trips) that I complete the assignment fully/closer to 80% completion for them even though I am no longer an employee of the company.”
“Should I just be giving the higher-ups the cold shoulder and/or blocking them? Is it even legal for them to be requesting that I assist the company like this? Also, can they withhold my last salary if I refuse to help them with finish up the assignment/ignore them?”
“Tell them you will work as consultant lor and payment in full upfront”
Singaporean Redditors offered three pieces of advice for the employee in the comments section.
Firstly, they recommended ignoring the requests, emphasizing that since he no longer works there, he isn’t obligated to continue working on the assignment.
Secondly, some Redditors suggested that the employee could respond by proposing to return as a consultant, charging the market rate or even slightly higher, considering his expertise with their project type.
One Redditor mentioned, “Tell them you will work as a consultant and payment in full upfront.”
Thirdly, a few stated that he could simply inform his old company that he’s busy with his new job and doesn’t have time for the assignment.
A Redditor commented, “Don’t burn bridges by blocking or giving them the cold shoulder. You may need something from them in the future.
You are absolutely not obligated to help. But to avoid offending them, just tell them you are too busy with your new job so you are unable to help.”
Redditors also assured the employee that the company wouldn’t withhold his final pay if he chose not to assist them.
One Redditor added, “Salary and helping them or not now are 2 separate matters. Salary is for the work done in the last month you were with them. If they withhold, I believe you can report the case to the relevant authorities to assist you.”
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