So i quit my job today. Those that have left/quit what do i have to do legally.

Obviously they own the work i did (php coding, photoshop, etc).

Can they legally request passwords and such from me? do i have to give them passwords?





[Edited on April 18, 2011 at 12:59 PM. Reason : g]

4/18/2011 12:57:32 PM

No legal expert here but once you are no longer being compensated you have no obligation to provide any more effort or services on your part. If they don't have a means or a process of knowledge transfer here thats on the company infrastructure for having you as a choke point on this and no one else who can cover.

That said it might be just professional and avoid burning bridges and contacts to organize your exit a certain amount. Sometimes there are things that are just the cost of doing business so to speak.

[Edited on April 18, 2011 at 1:02 PM. Reason : can't type]

4/18/2011 1:01:51 PM

They may or may not own it ...

If you compiled snippets/classes outside of work, and just copied them into the actual work you did for the company, then you still can reuse the original work.

But yeah, you really do have to give them everything you did that they were paying you to do. Passwords ... what do you mean ... like to their systems? Of course you do .... to your private email? no you do NOT.

4/18/2011 1:03:50 PM

Quote :

"That said it might be just professional and avoid burning bridges and contacts to organize your exit a certain amount. Sometimes there are things that are just the cost of doing business so to speak."

There are no bridges left. They let my boss go as well. Corporate take over if you will. So i can still get a high recommendation letter from him.

Quote :

"Passwords ... what do you mean ... like to their systems? Of course you do .... to your private email? no you do NOT."

yeah, like the company had an account with dream host, log me in, misc web services, server, etc.

4/18/2011 1:16:53 PM

Quote :

"Passwords ... what do you mean ... like to their systems? Of course you do"

This should be part of the of the companies information infrastructure. System access shouldn't ever be only known by one person. If the company was to cheap or too stupid to have a backup or a plan in place in the event you quit or got hit by a truck or something then tough luck.

If someone called you a week later and said "Hey we need you to bring your access card so we can get into the building" you probably wouldn't head over to the office and let them in.

That said its probably not a huge hassle to give just a quick listing. Even if there isn't any recommendation to be had I personally would feel like trying to be professional and helping with a couple loose ends if it was only gonna take maybe an hour or so.

4/18/2011 1:20:06 PM

they own the work. you dont need to provide them documentation.

As long as you dont delete documentation or code you're fine.

4/18/2011 1:23:15 PM

4/18/2011 1:27:00 PM

I know there is some precedent about a California city IT guy not giving up passwords. I think it was San Diego or San Francisco or something similar. I think he had to give up the passwords, but i'm not sure.

The bigger question is why would you not give them the passwords, you're a (presumably) grown ass man.

4/18/2011 1:28:56 PM

technically they should be deleting your accounts now that you've quit.

4/18/2011 1:36:55 PM

Quote :

"As long as you dont delete documentation or code you're fine."

yeah website is still up, accounting system still up, i didn't delete anything. Not that big of a bastard.

Quote :

"That said its probably not a huge hassle to give just a quick listing. Even if there isn't any recommendation to be had I personally would feel like trying to be professional and helping with a couple loose ends if it was only gonna take maybe an hour or so."

this situation is unique. Every was let go/fired. My boss. My bosses boss. My co-worker. I was the only one left aside from a few other people. Who were probably honestly next to go.

[Edited on April 18, 2011 at 1:39 PM. Reason : d]

4/18/2011 1:37:14 PM

Kind of seems childish for you to withhold information if you could easily give it to them, and its something that they need.

Obviously you're not going to get your job back whether you give them the passwords or not, so why not just take the high road and give them the information they need? Being a dick is a lousy way to treat a company assuming they were paying you a reasonable salary for some length of time.

4/18/2011 2:16:13 PM

^Nothing wrong with wanting to get paid for efforts though, If I was to get laid off right now I'd be very cordial but I would drop whatever I was doing and let them clean up the mess. In a perfect world I guess both the employee and the employer would develop an exit strategy for tying up lose ends before somebody is off the clock. Anyway every situation is different.


At the end of the day probably just take 10 mins to put a spreadsheet or something with the account
data you remember and let them figure out anything that requires more investigation than that.

[Edited on April 18, 2011 at 2:30 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2011 2:25:16 PM

Quote :

"There are no bridges left. They let my boss go as well. Corporate take over if you will. So i can still get a high recommendation letter from him."

There's always a bridge you are burning if you go out like a jerk that wouldn't hand over helpful info on your way out the door.

Say someone working for the people that took you over changes jobs to a place where you interview in the future. Shouldn't be too hard to imagine the conversion "Oh, let me tell you about that guy..."

All over what should be a simple, and professional, info exchange.

4/18/2011 2:46:08 PM

Quote :

" If I was to get laid off right now I'd be very cordial but I would drop whatever I was doing and let them clean up the mess"

He isn't getting laid off, he quit.


Same as the others in this thread, I'd probably provide the information unless they really screwed you over or something (which it doesn't sound like they did).

4/18/2011 2:50:36 PM

Quote :

"I know there is some precedent about a California city IT guy not giving up passwords. I think it was San Diego or San Francisco or something similar. I think he had to give up the passwords, but i'm not sure."

He gained illegal access to them and locked everyone out. If you just peace out without doing anything you're fine. If they can prove you broke something with malicious intent then you're boned.

4/18/2011 2:57:11 PM

From a practical standpoint its probably not worth burning the bridge. Especially if its an influential company in your industry. HR ladies hold grudges

4/18/2011 2:58:51 PM

Change all your passwords to something funny then hand them over. Good luck with the job search.

4/18/2011 7:15:40 PM

Yes they can legally request passwords and such from you.

As an employee (ie before you quit) you were the holder of that information on behalf of the company. Before you quit, you need to transition that information to a new resource or location.

Just mail them a certified letter listing all of the account information you were holding. I wouldn't email it, nor would I return to the site physically unless they want to pay you for that.

4/18/2011 7:24:46 PM

I took everyones advice and emailed a list. Just going to move on.

4/18/2011 8:14:06 PM

what did you sign? that's what you're bound to

4/18/2011 8:48:11 PM

I have not signed anything, when i was hired or today when i gave my resignation letter.

4/18/2011 9:32:54 PM

well you don't have to give up anything. that wouldn't hold up in a court of law.

go ahead and burn some bridges. are you worried about not having a reference from your last job in your next employment search?

4/18/2011 9:51:33 PM

Clearly someone with the name "bonerjamz" should be listened to.

Don't burn bridges, it always bites you in the ass later. You did the right thing to email them any pertinent information ... however, if they want you to train up a replacement, that clearly falls into the "hire me as a contractor" discussion.

4/18/2011 10:35:08 PM

bridge burning intended as sarcasm.

Quote :

"Clearly someone with the name "bonerjamz" should be listened to."

lol. the best practice in these situations is to be diplomatic. good luck to you and your former boss.

4/19/2011 5:38:49 AM

Quote :

"Yes they can legally request passwords and such from you. As an employee (ie before you quit) you were the holder of that information on behalf of the company. Before you quit, you need to transition that information to a new resource or location."

What Federal or State statute spells this out? Consider me surprised if you can find one.

4/19/2011 7:03:31 AM

Quote :

"Yes they can legally request passwords and such from you. "

Well no kidding

I can legally request that they let me shit on their mom's chest

Neither of us has to comply

4/19/2011 7:36:29 AM

Quote :

"Every was let go/fired. My boss. My bosses boss. My co-worker. I was the only one left aside from a few other people. Who were probably honestly next to go."

Were they going to fire you eventually? If that's the case, sounds like you could've stayed until then and been eligible for severance/unemployment benefits.

4/19/2011 9:05:54 AM

Quote :

"go ahead and burn some bridges. are you worried about not having a reference from your last job in your next employment search?"

Well they fired my boss (vice president) and his boss (president) and the vice president of sales. All whom i've spoken with and told me to add them for references and would speak highly of me. So no bridges burnt. Would be nice to have people with those kind of titles on your resume.

Quote :

"that clearly falls into the "hire me as a contractor" discussion."

Yes, i've already heard talk of this. Expecting a call any day now. Unless it's some retarded amount of money, i will be turning down their offer.

Quote :

"Were they going to fire you eventually? If that's the case, sounds like you could've stayed until then and been eligible for severance/unemployment benefits."

More than likely yes. They cleared out upper management and I assume we were next but i did not make my choice on that assumption. I have only been there two years not much severance and apparently there is a slight loop hole where i can still file for unemployment, something about stress, overworking you due to changing staff, etc. I don't think i'll pursue that, i'll have a job by the end of the month (i hope).

[Edited on April 19, 2011 at 10:58 AM. Reason : s]

4/19/2011 10:58:05 AM

Quote :

"Expecting a call any day now. Unless it's some retarded amount of money, i will be turning down their offer."

stick to this. when a company i used to work for went broke, and another company came in and acquired all the assets, me and my coworkers offered to do some contract work to help transfer to their technology team at $150/hr. They didn't like it, but they paid it.

4/19/2011 11:02:04 AM

^ Second this highly. You sound like you set yourself up well with you managers, so take advantage of contracting.

4/19/2011 5:32:54 PM

$150/hr?

I suddenly am wondering about losing my jerb...

4/19/2011 6:10:21 PM