Why are you saying TJ is scaremongering?
I am afraid that you have just shot yourself in the foot because you have just given the best evidence to support not revealing anything about your plans on sites such as Facebook.

So what if someone can I.D you from a photo?
Just because someone can identify you from a photo that will not ruin your career, whereas posting on a social networking site (or even here under your real name) that you are leaving your job before you have officially told your employer and it getting back to your boss just might.

In any case, if you have any sense you do not use a photo of yourself or use your real name on these sort of things...

I am with you - maybe we will have the Pussy Police on our tail.
Good job all of mine are now safely in Canada

Really, then please tell me why police forces around the world don't use such technology to solve crimes such as the rioting in Vancouver or London? While I appreciate that some sneeky beeky units use technology that is cutting edge, I imagine that most police forces in the developed world would have dumbed down version of it.

I would think that one with access to the technology you appear to would be able to answer the question I posed some time ago about significance of the bell in the Sergeants' Mess at Stirling Lines. If you need a picture of it, I am sure I could dig one out from somewhere.

Who is the second guy in this picture?:Story from today's Calgary Herald

no, wasnt implying you had said anything derrogatory, just being devils advocate. purely because i used to use my real name for the web and learned the hard way when someone i was trying to avoid found me and started being nasty, big time. theres plenty of stories in the news about people posting "this job is crap/my boss is a w****r" and been fired for it.


not sure im scaremongering, just reminding people to think about amending their username if they want any anonymity online. again, if someone wants to find you it can be done - but the level of the averge boss chasing down a grape vine story, doesnt go much above google.

+1

Biggest mistake you can make. I remember once I worked with a guy who was subcontracted and mentioned to people that he was thinking of retiring in three years time so to plan around that. He was just being helpful and it was obvious he was getting on a bit. Anyway boss didn't like him so didn't renew his contract, so he lost three years' worth of pay!

I can't remember what the statutory notice times are in the UK but in Alberta there are statutory notice periods, find out what the period is and stick to it.

No it's not, depends on the context. It's easy to fake Facebook and Twitter profiles, etc. Any HR that acted on that information without directly asking you or having certain proof it was real first would be on very shaky legal ground, unless you work somewhere that is "at will". In which case yes, you're an idiot, but I would think even in that situation you'd have to be careful as HR.

So if some info about your emigration plans comes to light that way and they directly ask you, are you going to lie?

Because if you tell the truth, it looks bad that you didn't tell them and they found out on the grapevine.

And if you lie, when you do eventually resign or word finally gets out, what do you think your reference will read like?

I think people who cannot understand how someone can be constructively dismissed without there being any direct evidence that the company has done so are naive in the extreme.
Similarly naive are those who think a company or individual boss needs to prove where they got information from, prove it is true before they act on it or treat you fairly.
They don't.

They know that taking a company for unfair dismissal is difficult, time-consuming and often unsuccessful and in any case it sometimes makes you look like a trouble-maker.
There are cases beyond number where bosses have totally screwed someone's career because they harbour resentment against the employee for completely unfair reasons. Sometimes you don't even know what they have been doing to blacken your reputation until it is too late.

The only way to avoid a potential backlash at work is to not say anything and keep your business to yourself.
If you don't, you only have yourself to blame for the consequences.

Why does it look bad? Until you have a passport request in hand its just "something that might happen"

Should you tell them if you buy lottery tickets? after all you might win big and up and quit on them too!

Frankly its none of their business until you decide to give notice, at that point they can decide if they want you to work the full notice period or whether to ship you out on gardening leave.

If you have a great relationship with your boss and (think) you can trust them, then maybe you can give them a heads up, it might smooth things over if you end up needing a favour down the road, but there is absolutely no obligation to do so.

I do agree though that discretion is the better part of valour, but most people have nothing to hide I suspect.

You are right in everything you say
EXCEPT for the fact that this is the real world and bosses and colleagues both above and below who do not know about the emigration process, how long it takes or the uncertain nature of it, may well not respond the way you would.

It is not unlikely that a boss might consider finding that you have applied to emigrate just the same as if you were looking for another job in the UK (which in terms of your perceived commitment to the job you are doing and the company's ability to rely on your presence long term, it is! You will be looking for another job, won't you?)

In this situation it is necessary to think about what other people think and how they might react and not about what is inherently true, fair and right.

Of course, if you know your boss you might be able to tell them, but just think before you do so.
If they know about your plans it might put them in a difficult position when making business decisions once they are aware, especially if the timescale for your eventual resignation is unknown.

But, if you want to risk it......

I think the FSW1 work reference required for me may have given them the heads up that I was considering the possibility
- however unlikely it now seems at current rates of progress.

Thankfully I did / do have a good boss (i.e. 2 good 'uns).

Have sympathy on the facebook front, as I have seen some things on some that maybe I would have filtered, but that is their choice - have just checked my last post which was about yorkshire puddings ().

If they are poking about in your internet presence and find it, then they should, as pointed out above, ask about it.

At that point you tell them, not before.

As you say, they dont understand the ins and outs, why would they? But they would be out of their minds legally to can anyone based solely on internet info.

You said if they ask it will look bad if you havent told them, I disagree. Any one in that situation will have the opportunity to explain the uncertain nature of the process and that there is nothing to tell until a decision is made. Employees come and go, some win the lottery, some are hit by busses, some move abroad, some get jobs with competitors, its just part of the business landscape.

You are right, it may look bad in terms of loyalty to the company, (is buying lottery tickets also bad in terms of how your commitment to an employer looks, clearly you would rather not be working for them right) Frankly if they are sniffing about at their employees facebook / internet profiles looking for infidelity then they dont deserve any loyalty in the first place, respect is a two way street.

But pay isn't.
I don't know about you but many people would be in serious financial trouble if they lost their job, especially when you think about the cost of emigration.

There is lots of evidence that discrimination in the workplace exists and constructive dismissal is a real situation that happens to people all the time and they cannot prove it.

Once you are no longer in control of this information, you are letting other potentially judge you negatively and risking your position.

I wouldn't do it and there are many others who wouldn't either, but then perhaps we have been unlucky and either experienced it ourselves or seen it happen to others.
Maybe you haven't.

I won't persuade you, clearly, but those of us who have been on the wrong end of a boss with a petty mindset and who holds a grudge against you for leaving their employ (all done properly and following all the rules) and who know the power they can wield very unfairly would keep their mouths firmly shut until emigration was all signed and sealed and the official resignation was in.

If I had a boss with a petty mindset I would be fishing around for another position anyway...

Im not disagreeing with you about keeping your cards close to your chest, but I dont know that the problem is epidemic either, and its certainly not solely related to emigrating.

I have to agree - 100%

In December I gave my notice in to my boss (I was her PA) to go to work for a friend who was paying me 3 x my current rate of pay (How could I refuse??)
I gave her my notice and from that day on she didn't speak to me. Very tricky when you're a PA!!!!!
Anyway my friend's company needed an employers reference from her and when asked the question "would you reemploy?" she said "no" without an explanation! If it hadn't been for my friend I would have been left up the proverbial creek without a paddle as the HR dept asked my friend if he still wanted to employ me in the circumstances!!!
Some employers get away with these things and there is nothing you can do as apparently saying she wouldn't reemploy me is not actually giving a bad reference according to the solicitor I approached!
So beware, especially if you work for a small company without a bespoke HR dept as they don't necessarily do you any favors when you leave and I dread to think how she would have reacted if I had told her I was planning to move to Canada!
Now if/when I need a reference from the UK, it will be my friend they approach and not her but if this had happened as I was leaving the country it might have been harder to deal with...
Just wanted to share...

I let my boss at the CHC know that I planned to emigrate. She was very supportive. She also had her own plans as to what to do with my position once I'd gone. She couldn't do it until I resigned, which I wasn't going to do until I received my PR visa. She knew this.

This was in the old days when applications for skilled workers took years. Mine didn't. A mate in the immigration section told me that it was close to record-breaking (a couple of months).

She wanted rid of you that quick, huh?