2 Year Indentured Servitude clause for layed off IT workers - without compensation

[Rx_]

Should IT workers be singled out as a new class of servants without pay?

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...s-it-workers-to-be-on-call-for-two-years.html

Bank laying off about 100 IT workers as it moves work offshore. But this layoff is unusual for what it is asking of the soon-to-be displaced workers: The bank's severance agreement requires terminated employees to remain available for two years to provide help if needed, including in-person assistance, and to do so without compensation.

Many of the affected IT employees, who are now training their replacements, have years of experience and provide the highest levels of technical support.

Contractors with H-1B visas are also being used at the worksite. H1-B are foreign workers exempt from some of the tax and regulatory requirements that apply to a US Citizens. With the H-1B status, a foreign worker's total corporate cost is less than a US Citizen's total cost.

 

[pbaldy]

I frankly don't think it's enforceable. Part of me would like to be one of those workers, so when the company asked me to provide this free assistance I could tell them where to stick it. This clause would make me less likely to help them, not more. But then I do have an ornery nature.

 

[Rx_]

I agree that it should be hard to enforce. But, we also saw banks (like this one) being excused from the law when they repossessed homes and kicked people out. They even kicked out people who never had a loan with the bank and had their homes paid off.
They later had to compensate each wrongful act for something like a couple of thousand dollars.
Like you, I might be ornery and help them by accidentally suggesting the wrong answer. Since programming is not a science, it would be more difficult to prove, while the intent to honor the assistance would not be in doubt.

If the story would dig further, the most likely case is that the employee is forced to train his replacement or the bank can tell the unemployment office and his future references that the employee was fired with cause. This seems like a threat. The threat might also be extended if the employee won't sign the 2 year contract.

It is a sad statement that the banks have been allowed to act in this way.

A recent article discussed how Banks will be Uberized. Their time has come to be automated like Blockbuster video rental, Taxi drivers, and the rest. Good Riddance!
I moved to Credit Unions a long time ago.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I tend to be forgiving, but this clause should be instantly challenged under FLSA, with legal damages for violations of labor abuse statutes.

In the clauses I have seen (and signed), I am not barred from working. I just have to agree to not disclose corporate "business secrets." Not being privy to the dirty laundry most of the time anyway, that is easy to accept, and my ace in the hole is that I will ALWAYS add a line to the agreement if it is not already there: The non-disclosure agreement does not apply to information not originally owned by the company.

So, for example, I can't tell you about the details of some telemetry circuits made by one of my former employers. But I have no barrier in telling you how to write a device driver for serial devices under RSX-11M or various other operating systems - because the company did not own that information. I can't tell you details of how U.S. Navy Reservists have their mobilization orders processed - but I can tell you about the system calls and library calls associated with OpenVMS. I can't tell you the details of the server and disk layout - and CERTAINLY can't tell you of any vulnerabilities with servers for SPAWAR SYSCENT LANT NO, but I can tell you things I've learned about Access in writing the program we use for generating security compliance reports.

That article makes it clear that the Fair Labor Standards Act would be on the side of the IT professionals, but to me it smacks of a mental lapse by those professionals. They DON'T have to sign the severance package and CAN bring up FLSA. If Sun Trust objects, they CAN be threatened with legal action for violations of FLSA and for attempted intimidation (and terribly bad press) under existing whistle-blower laws. I've done something close to that (the details were a bit different) about 30 years ago. I got my severance package and they got my silence eventually, though I did have to send them some legal references that told them what would happen to them if they didn't watch out how they handled me.

 

[pbaldy]

... Taxi drivers, and the rest. Good Riddance!

Hey wait, I work for a taxi company!

Seriously, I have mixed feeling on the subject. I'm a free market kind of guy, so if person A wants to give person B a ride in their car and get paid for it, who is government to say they can't? That said, taxi companies are subject to all kinds of regulations (employment and transportation), tariff restrictions, etc that Uber isn't. It creates an un-level playing field. Either apply the same rules to them or relieve us from them.

 

[Rx_]

Decades ago, I ran for Mayor of a college town that had no taxi's.
My platform was "if elected, eliminate the entire section 18 of the city charter and replace it with this paragraph.
Basically, the city would issue a taxi license with no restrictions except the driver and or owner of the car prove they had a full insurance package. The cost to file was $10 a year.

It basically allowed people to get insurance and perform Uber services.
There were over four dozen filed the first month to help handicapped, elderly, and other people.

 

[Rx_]

New Update - Bank justifies its "work for free or no severance" clause
http://www.computerworld.com/articl...anda-about-suntrust-s-cooperation-clause.html

The bank is importing foreign workers under the H-1B visa that is only justified when there is a shortage of qualified skilled workers and there is no alternative. Existing workers have trained foreign replacements. Then outsourcing the rest of the work overseas.

UPDATE: This link has the more specific terms and the bank's response.
The Computerworld is being quoted for many other news sources.