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Is there any obligation for me to tell my boss which company I am going to when I hand in my notice? I know that when the new company contacts HR for a reference they will know who is calling, but do I need to say to my boss who the new company is?

I'm guessing not because I could have another offer come in and choose to join a different company, but I'm just wondering. Any thoughts on how to do this ("I'd rather not say at this time" (?))

You can imagine some reasons for yourselves (the reasons aren't important for this question).

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  • As an aside, from looking at your comments you may find this thread useful: workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/16816/…... Even though you have two offers there's no guarantee they'll follow through (for various possible reasons) so I'd might avoid leaving before having officially accepted one. Apr 12, 2015 at 6:07

3 Answers 3

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During the exit interview, you might get asked by HR about where are you going to work. But I'd assume it's just for internal purposes, so that they could recognize if unproportionally many people leave for some specific company, or do something to improve employees retention.

If you haven't made a final decision about which company you are about to join, you can simply say that.

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    I like the idea of saying one has yet to decide, that there are at least two offers and one is considering them. Apr 11, 2015 at 20:13
  • @VictorySaber I'm glad it was useful!
    – Gediminas
    Apr 11, 2015 at 20:25
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No, you don't need to disclose where you are going. Just don't mention it when handing in your notice.

If you boss asks, think about what you want to tell him. Any answer that is not an outright lie is okay. You can not tell anything or keep it vague or tell anyone everything. That's up to you.

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In the United States there is no requirement to tell the employer who you will be working for, unless there is a specific work contract that would spell out that requirement.

As for the new employer checking on your current employment as part of the background check, that generally not a problem for most employees. Many companies handle all employment verifications via a third party. They will confirm dates of employment only. (For loans they will provide income verification.) You current manager will not be told about the verification check.

In my experience many employers do want to know, as do your co-workers. They either want to know because they care about you, or they are looking for a future place to get a job. But because some people can't be trusted most employees are under no obligation to tell them.

Now HR may ask about a way to contact you. That is so they can send your final check, the tax forms in January or if they find you left something valuable in your office.

Note: don't resign until you have a signed offer letter. If you are still deciding don't resign yet.

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