Need Advice: Should I breach my contract to go full time?

[humbleMouse]

Hey everybody, I am in a weird situation and need some advice. 

I got a job training as a programmer where they paid me $10/h for 4 months.  This was about 9 months ago.  I already knew a lot about computers, but the training brought me up to speed om java web programming. 

This companies business model is as such:

1) Find people on craigslist willing to train for $10/h.
2) Create a false resume and send it to recruiting agencies.
3) Have recruiting agencies submit the false resume to actual businesses and wait for potential interviews.

They then train you to have canned responses to all the interview questions.  You get the job, and then you are now being middle manned by both the recruiting agency, and the company that originally trained you. 

My situation:

I have been on the job programming for a large corporation for about 5 months now.  The people who hired me think I have 5+ years experience when in reality I was trained for 4 months.  I can deliver on all the work and have been doing a great job.  The company has been repeatadly asking me to come full time and work for them. 

The place that trained me made me sign a form that said I could not accept any full time job offers for 2 years while i get double middle-manned by the recruiting agency and the company that trained me.
The contract I am working on is in the range of 110-120k.  I see about 2800/month of that money after taxes, or about 35k/year. 

I am becoming very stressed out because I dont get paid for holidays, have no time off, and work a stressful job constantly.  I like programming, but it is driving me crazy.  I only have time for work/gym/sleep.  I am constantly stressed with no time off.  I do not want to have a giant cut of my salary taken for the next 18 months. 

Like I said, the corporation I actually work for wants me to come full time and work for them.  This would give me lots of $$, PTO, sick days, ect.  However, the people that trained me made me sign a piece of paper that said I wouldnt accept any full time job offers for 2 years.  I am ready to take the full time offer and see what happens.  I am worried about possible legal consequences.  Are these types of contracts enforceable when the company forced me to submit a fake resume? 

Also, I am in minnesota.  Let me know if you have any other questions, really looking for some guidance on this. 

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Why the hell did you agree to defraud the company you're contracted to?

[AZDude]

Umm, the situation is definitely illegal. Tell the contractors to fuck off or you will go public with the story and ruin their business. If you want to be less confrontational, then look into what the penalty is for breaking the contract.

[Sibley]

And I wouldn't be so sure that the company will still want to hire you when they find out about the lying on the resume thing.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

But you don't really have leverage over the training company, because the company that wants to hire you directly thinks you have 5 years of experience.

I think your first step here is to talk to a lawyer to make sure you're not in legal trouble. You better call Saul!

It's possible that the company that wants to hire you would appreciate you coming clean and telling them what's happening enough to hire you, but not probably. And before doing that you want to make sure you won't go to jail.

Don't build your whole career on a lie.

[humbleMouse]

Why the hell did you agree to defraud the company you're contracted to?

Because I dont have a degree and it seemed legit while I was training.

And I wouldn't be so sure that the company will still want to hire you when they find out about the lying on the resume thing.

They wont find out.  If the company told them they would compromise the many programmers they have placed in this corporation.

[Zamboni]

Do you have a copy of the contract you signed? What is the penalty for breaking the contract?

You need to get legal advice, and this is not the place for it. Since breaking the contract could net you tens of thousands of dollars, or cost you an equal amount if the training firm sues you, a consult with an employment attorney is worth your time and money.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Why the hell did you agree to defraud the company you're contracted to?

Because I dont have a degree and it seemed legit while I was training.

And I wouldn't be so sure that the company will still want to hire you when they find out about the lying on the resume thing.

They wont find out.  If the company told them they would compromise the many programmers they have placed in this corporation.

So, there's lot of other people in this situation, you don't think somebody's going to slip up and spill some details, and somebody else is going to do the math on years to figure out they don't have the experience they say they do?

What you're doing is wrong. I can maybe understand how you ended up here, but you need to figure out how to get yourself out. "They won't find out" is a child's answer, or an idiot's.

[humbleMouse]

I do have a copy of what I signed.  I don't really know what to do right now, I think i am going to see a lawyer asap. 

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Yes. Lawyer. Take the afternoon off if one can see you today. This is a giant blade of career doom hanging over your head as soon as somebody figures out what's up.

You should also be looking for a full-time employee position with a real resume so that if possible you have an option to put this all behind you.

[humbleMouse]

Yes. Lawyer. Take the afternoon off if one can see you today. This is a giant blade of career doom hanging over your head as soon as somebody figures out what's up.

You should also be looking for a full-time employee position with a real resume so that if possible you have an option to put this all behind you.

Thanks a lot for the advice/encouragement, this has been weighing on my mind for a while and it feels good to talk about it.  I am going to call a lawyer right now. 

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Good. You will figure out the best way out of this. I don't like to take a harsh tone but it seemed like you may have sort of talked yourself into a "what if I ignore it and everything will be OK" mindset.

Good luck.

[RoseRelish]

LWRYUP

[Zamboni]

Lawyer up on this is a good call.

If someone else blows the whistle on the resume fraud, then odds are pretty good that you and everyone else who was trained by that firm could be out of a job instantaneously. On the other hand, if the training firm sent out a resume that was false without your approval (no idea if you approved it or not), then that is fraud and you have a legitimate complaint against them.

One way or another, legal representation is your best way out of this pickle. It certainly seems like you are sufficiently in a pickle that you need to hire someone with "JD" after their name to help you resolve the situation.

Finally, be completely honest with the attorney. Accept responsibility for any part you played in this. For example, if you were sent the false resume they creating for review and/or approval (by email, for example) prior to them sending it out, then acknowledge that. Make sure that your attorney has absolutely every bit of information possible so he or she has no surprises.

Good luck to you!

[Zamboni]

Following up to add that I found your post interesting so I did a search "training company submitted false resume" on google.  Holy moly it looks like you have a lot of company!  Crazymotts has a particularly interesting blog post on this with good graphics and many comments if you want to look that up.

I had no idea that this was an industry, but apparently this "business model" of having people sign restrictive contracts and then creating false resumes is big business for the middle men! The hammer is going to come down on this sooner or later, and my opinion is that you need to get out of this situation as soon as you can.

Ask yourself: did you sign the contract before or after they falsified your resume? If you signed it at the beginning of the training program with an honest intent, then that works in your favor. If so, then I think that to some extent they trapped you into this. If so, then I think it would be really hard for the training company who did this to successfully come after you if you decided to breach that contract by quitting the contract work and accepting a full time position that immediately cuts them out of the deal. If they send you anything threatening in writing, which they probably will, reply in writing only "I dispute your claims" and write "do not contact me again." You can follow up with "Please direct all future correspondence concerning this matter to my attorney, InsertAttorneyNameHere, JD, insert attorney's address." Keep any written response to the training company or recruiter very short, or even better just have your lawyer respond on your behalf.

You still have the problem of a false resume hanging over your head, of course, so consult a lawyer. I agree with the suggestion that you should make a true resume with the current experience on it to move forward with and forget about the fake one they made. If they are truly this shady, I would completely leave the training company's name off of anything associated with me in the future. You can still have a "skills" section that says "fluent in java web programming" or whatever skills you have without mentioning this shady company. Do not ever put the "fake experience" down on any job application that you sign in the future, and that includes with your current company if you have to fill out their application to convert to full time. In a few years this will all be behind you . . . maybe sooner.

I hope that you do consult a lawyer, who will probably tell you to immediately stop posting about this on the internet. So, we will likely not hear from you again, and I wish you the best.

I am not a lawyer and this post is not legal advice, just my opinion.

[bobechs]

You might want to be particularly sure that the lawyer you consult actually went to law school for three (or more) years, passed the Bar Exam and has a  current license to practice.

Just sayin'...

[Axecleaver]

Following this. Quite a mess! I hope things work out in your favor. Let us know how the conversation with the lawyer goes.

Usually, companies that offer to hire people fulltime off of contract have a non-solicitation clause in their contract, which prevents them from hiring the placement firm's employees. You likely signed a non-compete with your direct employer, which prevents you from accepting a job offered to you. To hire you, the company has to pay a buyout fee. That may be what they're offering you. The contracts I'm most familiar with last 6-12 months with a phased-out buyout clause, and then after that period, the company can hire you if they like without penalty. 

The contract you signed should specify in clear detail what the penalties are if you violate the non-compete. I think your challenge is going to be qualifying for the job you're doing now, if you apply for it officially.

[bacchi]

The direct agency is making bank and no contract buyout will replace that.

$110k - $45k? = $60k. Any contract buyout I've seen is ~10%.

[mozar]

My non compete doesn't say what the penalties are. I think you should look for a new job with your real resume. You might not be able to use your current contract as a reference, but you can use the training company because they don't want to incriminate themselves by telling the truth. It's interesting that this major corporation never checks references from the previous 5 years. You might need at least a year to have enough experience to get a new job. Also interesting that employers are so skittish about hiring that they would rather be lied to than hire someone with little experience. It's not your fault you just need to get out.

[humbleMouse]

Following this. Quite a mess! I hope things work out in your favor. Let us know how the conversation with the lawyer goes.

Usually, companies that offer to hire people fulltime off of contract have a non-solicitation clause in their contract, which prevents them from hiring the placement firm's employees. You likely signed a non-compete with your direct employer, which prevents you from accepting a job offered to you. To hire you, the company has to pay a buyout fee. That may be what they're offering you. The contracts I'm most familiar with last 6-12 months with a phased-out buyout clause, and then after that period, the company can hire you if they like without penalty. 

The contract you signed should specify in clear detail what the penalties are if you violate the non-compete. I think your challenge is going to be qualifying for the job you're doing now, if you apply for it officially.

I am pretty sure that I dont have to officially apply for the job to be converted to a full time employee.

Also, I talked to a couple lawyers today and they basically told me that I am commiting fraud, and its on me.  So I can continue to commit fraud and make peanuts, or commit fraud and make lots of money.  I plan on having my lawyer send the training company an email saying I am taking the fulltime position, and if they want to respond they can talk to my lawyer. 

[Zamboni]

^Putting any future conversation between the training company and a lawyer is a sound idea.

Assuming you manage to keep this job for a couple of years, you do want to amend your current resume to only show the current job and any real skills and experience you have. Then, moving forward, keep it clean and honest. You don't want to continue with the fake experience/job fraud for the rest of your career!

Meanwhile, I hope you are following MMM principles and saving most of your money for a rainy day . . .

[FoundPeace]

Even if you end up making the same or less than you are currently making, it is worth getting as far away from that company is you can. I agree that you should get a lawyer, but don't expect to work for the same company you are working for (not the scammers) after everything goes down.

[former player]

I think you should tell the company who have offered you the permanent job the truth about your background - it is not good to make your new start with a lie.  Now, there are ways and ways to do this.  One way might be to create an honest CV for yourself and send it to your new boss/HR saying "here is my current CV to start my file as a permanent employee".  If you do that before you sign your permanent contract you are in a much better position going forward.
 

[Jack]

Also, I talked to a couple lawyers today and they basically told me that I am commiting fraud, and its on me.  So I can continue to commit fraud and make peanuts, or commit fraud and make lots of money.

Or you could stop committing fraud and tell your employer the truth.