What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
I am unsure where to post this as it doesn't fit any of the main categories in this section. If this is in the wrong place, please advise and accept my apologies.
My current employer somehow found out that I was recently approached about a new job that would pay me twice as much with full benefits. It would be a huge advance for me professionally and financially. I would go from a $14/hour job with no benefits to a $55,000 salaried position with full benefits in a managerial position which I am qualified for. I do not know how my current employer found out I was approached and probably never will. This prospective new employer contacted me when a business colleague from my prior business told them about me, thought I would be a good asset for their company and gave them my number.
By way of a short explanation, I had my own business for 16 years but due to many long distance moves for my ex to find work, I gradually lost my client base. I tried to get it up and running again after each move but wasn't in one place long enough to re-establish myself. It was a service business based on personal interaction with my clients and the further away I moved each time, the more clients I lost. He left our home 3 years ago, moved out of state, left me flat and divorced me this past August. I had to find a job and, at my age at the time, 52, it wasn't easy. I took the only job I was offered 3 years ago to try to support myself. I know I am lucky to have a job when so many don't but it is a job where my skills and experience are sorely under used not to mention I am poorly paid with no advancement options at all.
Obviously, I would welcome an opportunity to not only improve myself financially but also professionally where my skills and experience would be put to good use.
The prospective employer left me a voice mail message at my home today and I returned the call when I got home from work. I was then told that they had been warned by my current employer that they were to not contact me in any fashion whatsoever about hiring me. I was told that nothing negative was said about me, quite the opposite, and that if I left it "would leave a big hole to fill".
Can my current employer try to warn off a prospective new employer like this?
Thanks in advance for any input.
I am unsure where to post this as it doesn't fit any of the main categories in this section. If this is in the wrong place, please advise and accept my apologies.
My current employer somehow found out that I was recently approached about a new job that would pay me twice as much with full benefits. It would be a huge advance for me professionally and financially. I would go from a $14/hour job with no benefits to a $55,000 salaried position with full benefits in a managerial position which I am qualified for. I do not know how my current employer found out I was approached and probably never will. This prospective new employer contacted me when a business colleague from my prior business told them about me, thought I would be a good asset for their company and gave them my number.
By way of a short explanation, I had my own business for 16 years but due to many long distance moves for my ex to find work, I gradually lost my client base. I tried to get it up and running again after each move but wasn't in one place long enough to re-establish myself. It was a service business based on personal interaction with my clients and the further away I moved each time, the more clients I lost. He left our home 3 years ago, moved out of state, left me flat and divorced me this past August. I had to find a job and, at my age at the time, 52, it wasn't easy. I took the only job I was offered 3 years ago to try to support myself. I know I am lucky to have a job when so many don't but it is a job where my skills and experience are sorely under used not to mention I am poorly paid with no advancement options at all.
Obviously, I would welcome an opportunity to not only improve myself financially but also professionally where my skills and experience would be put to good use.
The prospective employer left me a voice mail message at my home today and I returned the call when I got home from work. I was then told that they had been warned by my current employer that they were to not contact me in any fashion whatsoever about hiring me. I was told that nothing negative was said about me, quite the opposite, and that if I left it "would leave a big hole to fill".
Can my current employer try to warn off a prospective new employer like this?
Thanks in advance for any input.