Can a company use your personal certifications after you leave the company?

I was hired on at a small company to be their QC. And by small, I mean I can count the staff on one hand, including management and myself. There was nothing set up for the majority of quality control, employee safety, or sanitation record keeping. I hit the ground running and was able to cobble together the majority of the necessary, documentation and record keeping systems over just a matter of months by myself while the owner did her best to sabotage the entire venture she hired me on to get her facility and SQF certification. I have to very respectfully argue for proper documentation and the integrity of those documents. we did manage to get our SQF last year, but I have a suspicion that any record that did not come from my desk, may have been falsified. Not out of true malignancy, just out of pure incompetence and lack of integrity. We are a very small scale, single ingredient processor, so I am secure in the safety of the product, just not in the integrity of the business. I need to find a way out, but I am afraid of my boss. she’s very wealthy and entitled and acts like she owns everybody. She is also very creepy.

I feel like I may have been hired as a sacrificial lamb. I was either going to be the magic bullet that got the her the the SQFcert or I was going to be demonized as the reason they didn’t get the cert. As soon as we were approved for getting the cert She immediately began devaluing me at every step. She reneged on my promised bonus, raise, and purposely left me out of a staff celebration luncheon. She finds ways every day to subtly demean me and treat me like I’m a gullible kid right out of high school, not the SQF practitioner and only person in the company with HACCP, PCQI certs needed for the SQF cert.

I am trying to find a way out, in a way she doesn’t stalk or prevent me from finding other positions. But I am concerned that she will continue to use the copies of my CERT fraudulently after I leave. I do not want my name associated with this business.

Hi WaterFeathers,

 

:welcome:

 

Welcome to the IFSQN forums.

 

What a sad state of affairs, the owner sounds like a monster!   :bop:

 

I would move on, focus on your next venture and ensure you keep a copy of your resignation letter.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

 

I have PCQI but I've not regularly supplied the US. 

 

It depends what you mean in a way.  Does she keep the work you did for the company?  Yes.  That is stuff she effectively "owns".  Does she then have the fact it was produced by someone with PCQI and other appropriate qualifications?  Also yes.

 

But she cannot claim you are still the PCQI accountable for that business if that makes sense?  She might try but as Tony says, keep records, make it clear you're keeping records and it might even be worth including on your resignation letter that "an appropriately trained employee will need to be recruited or appointed to be accountable for quality and food safety going forward as it will not be myself after this date but if appointed before my departure I would be happy to facilitate a handover..." etc.

I agree with Tony.

 

You should just leave.

 

Unless you can prove (show, have written proof) that the employer is using your certs etc maliciously and with intent to defraud you (thus causing you damage) you really have nothing to stand on.

 

Brush off, spit as you are going past her office and move on with your life.

The company has a right to use your certs to an extent after you leave.  Programs you've developed and validated for them will continue to be valid as they were developed by the PCQI certified practitioner, and they're entitled to say so as it is true.  But if they write new programs under your name after your date, perform self-audits using your name/certificates, or complete other forms using your name, then they're engaging in fraud and that would open them to criminal and civil penalties.

 

Start the hunt now for your next job.  I've been around enough small family businesses to say that some are wonderful, and unfortunately this one sounds like one of the not wonderful ones.  Add into your resume that you successfully deployed various FSQMS updates to lead a facility to their first SQF certification.

I'm sorry you're in such a situation.

 

If the bonus promised was based on your performance (e.g., getting them certified) and your employer went back on that, you could take her to court for breach of contract or unpaid wages. Performance-based or contract bonuses are non-discretionary bonuses and considered wages. You would need proof that the bonus was agreed upon (email, contract), that it was linked to a specific performance metric (SQF certification), and that you achieved that metric (copy of certification). You may want to review the terms of your employment contract and then get in touch with a legal team. I suggest you also ask them for advice on how you can be protected from any sort of retaliation, as well.

She just put me in another bad situation and I’m not even sure what to do. I was gone for a couple weeks and she messed up the paper records for the time I was gone, didn't follow any of the written instructions I left, and I just found issues with the shipment that when out while I was gone. How do I even record all the things that went wrong while I was away and reconcile some of the errors made. She is making it out that I am blowing it all out of proportion, but traceability is nothing to make light of. How do I record all of this in a way that they can’t just delete off my records when I resign? I do not want to be liable for stuff I know they are probably hiding from me on top of all this. She keeps acting sketchy. She even tried to blame me for all the mistakes made while I was gone and she is the only one besides me that can do the paperwork.

At this point I hope you're keeping a digital paper trail via email and BCC'ing your personnal email address. If you are, just be mindful that you aren't sending yourself anything that could be considered proprietary (customer lists, formulas, etc). 

But if you are afraid this might come back to bite you later, having a paper trail saved that you addressed the issue to the best of your ability in a spot they can't delete could give you some peace of mind.

 spend every waking hour looking for a new employer

 

 

that's it , that's the advice

This is a situation that will NOT improve no matter how badly you want it to

 

accept that you made a poor choice, figure out how to interview prospective employers in an interview and make a better choice next time

 

Best of luck

I agree with TimG. Make sure you have a paper trail - emails. If needed, print them off and black out any proprietor information. 

 

Make copies of the documents and somehow add a time stamp. If you have smart printer/copier at work - you can scan and send the paper documents to your work email. Then print off. 

 

If you have a paper trail on your work email - you will want to send to a private email account or set up a secure cloud account. 

 

When you do leave - make sure you have the last day of employment in writing. Saves you in case they would try and use your name on documents. 

I just wrote my letter of resignation and I hope I have the guts to follow through. I gave myself a two week end date, because I know that they will take advantage of me if I offered to stay until they hired my replacement. 

You can do this! They are not leaving you with much choice.

 

GOOD LUCK!

I just wrote my letter of resignation and I hope I have the guts to follow through. I gave myself a two week end date, because I know that they will take advantage of me if I offered to stay until they hired my replacement. 

 

Never stay until a replacement is found unless they offer an incentive in writing. This goes for any job you have. 

I just wrote my letter of resignation and I hope I have the guts to follow through. I gave myself a two week end date, because I know that they will take advantage of me if I offered to stay until they hired my replacement. 

 

Best of luck! I think this is the best decision for you, honestly.

Never offer to stay and train your replacement unless there's a firm contract in place with a specific end date.

Stay strong!   Best of luck