Signing Blank Paper

[nikkih]

Washington State- Recently, my employer passed around a blank piece of paper at work and asked everyone to sign it. One woman refused to sign the paper and was fired for insubordination. Is it legal to ask an employee to sign a blank piece of paper?

 

[Antigone*]

Washington State- Recently, my employer passed around a blank piece of paper at work and asked everyone to sign it. One woman refused to sign the paper and was fired for insubordination. Is it legal to ask an employee to sign a blank piece of paper?

There is noting illegal about being asked to sign a blank piece of paper.

 

[cyjeff]

But it is really scary.

Did your employer give you any reason whatsoever for signing?

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

But it is really scary.

Did your employer give you any reason whatsoever for signing?

People running meetings/training classes will pass a blank sheet to sign to show attendance.

Nothing to see here, move along, people.

 

[cyjeff]

People running meetings/training classes will pass a blank sheet to sign to show attendance.

Nothing to see here, move along, people.

If that was the reason, then I agree.

However, the reason was not stated for the paper.

 

[Banned_Princess]

Nothing to see here, move along, people.

Ha ha, thats funny.


Did everybody have to sign the SAME sheet of paper? or did everyone get their own blank page?

 

[nikkih]

The store manager wanted the employees to understand a part of our employee handbook so she handed around the blank piece of paper for everyone to sign regarding that section. I'm not sure why she didn't write a few words to explain what everyone was signing, but everyone was asked to sign the same piece of paper with that intention.

 

[cbg]

No laws were violated by that directive. Nor was firing someone for refusing illegal.

We won't discuss whether or not it was smart.

 

[commentator]

This person who was fired for refusing to sign the paper will probably qualify for unemployment benefits, as I doubt if this is going to rise to the level of major misconduct. Hope she didn't have a history of warnings for insubordination or failure to follow instructions.

In the case of an unemployment hearing, whether or not the employee had signed a part or all of the handbook might be considered, regarding whether they KNEW they could be fired for doing or not doing a certain thing. ("Did you know it was against the rules?" ) An employee's signature on the manual or policy statement is going to be fairly conclusive.

However, if you told the hearing officer that the employer passed around a blank sheet of paper and instructed all the employees to sign it, without going over the policy or telling you why you were signing the paper, then it would not be valid as a statement that you had read and understood the new or existing policy. So it would not accomplish anything anyway. It really wasn't worth losing a job over, but I do agree with the employee who was terminated. In this situation, it was a bad idea and a bad practice on the part of the employer.