Can my present employer go to my new employer with this?

I'm not a lawyer or an hr manager, but if I remember correctly from my business communications class that is illegal. One manager can not contact another manager and tell them you are a bad employee, etc. They can only say something if you list your present employer as a reference and the new employer contacts them and asks how you are as an employee, and even then they can't give specific details.

That was extremely unprofessional.

I actually disagree with some of the poster. You should be very careful how you approach your new job about the situation. You may discuss the start date presenting a problem to the old employer, and they wish for more time. The new company may bend. If not that will let the new company know of the old company's disasstifaction. And if they call, they will know their motivation.

However, anything else will have the new hr person wondering if there are any bigger issues that this is the cover story for.

Keep it basic.

Defaming employees is iillegal you cannot impede a persons ability to be employed. You can not only sue the company can be assest a fine.

So if the new hr person is called by the old one she/he may not want to be involved in such a manner and remind her colleague of the need to be professional .

And if she calls the human resource office for the new company may feel

If she's half the beast she appears to be, she could very well do that....but it would be a personal thing rather than a professional one...and in your place, I would think strongly about suing her for it. She could do that, then fire you after the fact, being guaranteed that you would be out of work then. Pretty malicious if she does it.

That said, you did speak to her in somewhat questionable terms. You don't short someone notice then rub it in their face about how they could fire people without notice. (And yes, 2 weeks is really just a courtesy.) Most employers, you will find, take offense to that. And those same bosses find it a trial to hire people and train them, because although there are many unemployed people out there ready to take the job, they have to find the right one. Not always easy.

I think that your best option if you are afraid of this happening, is to contact the new HR person personally, or see if you can make an appt to see them. Explain to them that you have given your former employer notice, but not a full 2 weeks notice due to circumstances. Tell them that your meeting with your current boss was most difficult, that she had made it clear that she didn't want you to leave, and that you believe that she might take it upon herself to have their offer of employment canceled, via calling in a complaint about you. If they ask you to identify your boss, it's up to you to do that or not, but they already know who you work for, so it they are a friend of hers, they will know who she is. It could just be that she knows the name of the HR person but isn't a friend. Make it known to them, that you want the job and hope that the actions of your former boss won't interfere with that.

Oh, and leave your sarcasm at home!!

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If your new job wants you to start right away and you dont have an opportunity to turn in a two week notice, then thats not your fault. And if your present employer is upset to the point that she wants to call the company you haven't even started working for yet, and complain about you, let her. Any respectable employer will tell her that yes, they want you to start on this date, which is less than two weeks. After all, why would they lie about someone they haven't had a chance to see in action?

And as for your present employer getting upset, if she confronts you about it again, remind her that at least you did tell her you're leaving - it could be worse!

Good luck!!!

You should contact the HR lady at the company you are going to be working for. Run the situation by her. See what she has to say and how she feels about it.

The best thing to do in a situation like this is lay all the cards out on the table. No secrets.

Good luck!

Your new employer wants you to start work with them so even if your old employer does talk to them the new employer wont care anyway because they dont want to wait two weeks while you give notice. You could perhaps bring up casually to your new employer that your old employer was not happy about the short notice but you felt had an obligation to your new employer etc make it sound like you did the new employer a huge favour.

Just explain that situation word for word to the HR at your new company. Make sure you tell them that you would have liked to have given 2 weeks notice but it wasn't possible under the circumstances.

Giving two weeks notice is only required if the company will pay two weeks severance pay if they are going to fire you. Generally speaking, giving notice is not a current business practice. If the crazy you are working for does contact your new employer it shouldn't affect their decision to hire you.

I've never heard of an employer giving a worker a 2 week firing notice. I doubt it would be bad even if she did go to your new job with that info.

She could only if it's off the record with her friend from HR. She couldn't do it professionally. And if you've already accepted the job then your new place isn't going to fire you just because you had a fight with someone from your last job.

She's just trying to scare you. I wouldn't worry about it.

This would also be defamation of character which is illegal for her to do.