Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I’m on maternity leave from my job at a medium-sized company in a specific digital sector. Our city has a thriving but small digital hub, with only a couple of other similar businesses that my job title directly transfers to. We are close to London but I do not wish to commute.
After a run of employees leaving the company, it transpires that it has set up agreements with local businesses so they will not employ our staff. It’s been rumoured for a while, but now at least one person has been told directly that their application has not been processed for this reason.
The reason so many people have left lately is a poor company culture, which I hear is improving, and the company’s poor financial performance and industry reputation, which are yet to turn around.
My time away has made me appreciate the upsides and downsides to my job, however I’d decided to return for at least the duration of 2016 to settle back into working life and to give things a chance to turn around – the company has been good to me. My backup plan, if I returned and did not thrive, was to apply to exactly the companies where this agreement is in place.
This has lowered my opinion of the company I work for. Should I forget my plan and start looking for other employment now, with just a couple of months of maternity leave left, to get in before any other similar restrictions come into force? Can these companies even restrict people’s career options in this way?
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
