Hello all,
For the past few months I've been working from home over the internet for a small company in the Czech Republic. The contract specified two weeks' notice by either party to end the agreement.
Around the 20th of December I spoke to one of the people from the company (by voice using Skype), and I was told the company had decided to give me my notice. We had a bit of a discussion about it, and the person said it wasn't her choice, but that she would talk to her boss and get back to me in the afternoon (Czech time) or the next day.
I didn't hear from her, so two days later I got in touch with her again, but she was just rushing out the door to catch a plane and didn't have time to tell me anything. So at this point I didn't know what was happening, though I thought it was more likely than not that I would be kept on because surely I would have been told otherwise. But just in case, I started doing some of the things I would need to if I was being terminated.
Over the next couple of weeks absolutely nothing happened that would suggest I was finishing: no request for a handover and walkthrough of my work, no instructions on what to do during my last two weeks (so I just continued working on what I had been doing), no arrangements for what sort of support I could give them afterwards, no acknowledgement or thank-yous for my work, no request for a final invoice with the correct amount of pay calculated (pay was actually specified at a monthly rate in the contract, so there would be a little confusion in working out exactly how much two weeks' pay is), no notice of what my exact final day would be.
Then the person I mainly dealt with at the company returned from her break, and I continued working as before. I spoke to her most days about what I was doing, and what I should do next. I uploaded my work to their server every few days or so (whenever it needed doing so she could see my work).
Two weeks after that (about a week and a half ago), my pay was due again, and I asked her what the format of my invoice should be (she had said a couple of months previously they wanted some specific format, but they never got around to sending me a sample). She said I wasn't an employee anymore and that I had been given my notice on December 20! A couple of days later she said (by chat in Skype) she "negotiated" with her boss about what I should be paid, and it's only an amount equal to half a month's pay. This would be the absolute minimum required if I was given proper notice in December. But I continued working until just a few days ago, and I know they are using the products of my work (the boss is going on a road trip demoing my application to companies/govt departments he wants to sell it to).
So, what does everyone make of this situation?
(edited just a little bit for clarity and style)
For the past few months I've been working from home over the internet for a small company in the Czech Republic. The contract specified two weeks' notice by either party to end the agreement.
Around the 20th of December I spoke to one of the people from the company (by voice using Skype), and I was told the company had decided to give me my notice. We had a bit of a discussion about it, and the person said it wasn't her choice, but that she would talk to her boss and get back to me in the afternoon (Czech time) or the next day.
I didn't hear from her, so two days later I got in touch with her again, but she was just rushing out the door to catch a plane and didn't have time to tell me anything. So at this point I didn't know what was happening, though I thought it was more likely than not that I would be kept on because surely I would have been told otherwise. But just in case, I started doing some of the things I would need to if I was being terminated.
Over the next couple of weeks absolutely nothing happened that would suggest I was finishing: no request for a handover and walkthrough of my work, no instructions on what to do during my last two weeks (so I just continued working on what I had been doing), no arrangements for what sort of support I could give them afterwards, no acknowledgement or thank-yous for my work, no request for a final invoice with the correct amount of pay calculated (pay was actually specified at a monthly rate in the contract, so there would be a little confusion in working out exactly how much two weeks' pay is), no notice of what my exact final day would be.
Then the person I mainly dealt with at the company returned from her break, and I continued working as before. I spoke to her most days about what I was doing, and what I should do next. I uploaded my work to their server every few days or so (whenever it needed doing so she could see my work).
Two weeks after that (about a week and a half ago), my pay was due again, and I asked her what the format of my invoice should be (she had said a couple of months previously they wanted some specific format, but they never got around to sending me a sample). She said I wasn't an employee anymore and that I had been given my notice on December 20! A couple of days later she said (by chat in Skype) she "negotiated" with her boss about what I should be paid, and it's only an amount equal to half a month's pay. This would be the absolute minimum required if I was given proper notice in December. But I continued working until just a few days ago, and I know they are using the products of my work (the boss is going on a road trip demoing my application to companies/govt departments he wants to sell it to).
So, what does everyone make of this situation?
(edited just a little bit for clarity and style)
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