How to tell my current boss that I don't agree with company's current practice of employee leasing

Question

Background

A few months ago I started a Job as a senior java developer at an IT consultancy. In the interview rounds they introduced themselves as a company that works solely in-house for their clients and don't ever send their employees and make them work on client location or ever bodylease.

Current situation

However the actual story is quiet different:

• It started off with current situation and lack of projects in the company in the start. I was forced to go into a project and work as a manual tester for a few weeks, which then slowly started to in direction of test automation (as a developer I still don't like this)
• I don't work at my company's location instead I must now travel a fair bit longer to get to the client location and sit and work there 5 days a week.
• One more untoward instance of company's bad behavior popped up when they recently fired a colleague of mine who didn't show intention to work as bodyleased extern at client location.

What I want to ask / convey my boss

How can I tell my boss to stop this practice of body leasing without any adverse risks on my career? I fear great backlash and have the fear that the same that happened to my colleague could happen to me.

Bodyleasing in my personal opinion is unethical anyway.

Answer 1

I've worked in this kind of industry for many years in the past, where I've worked for a company that coded for clients. I spent about a third of that time working on client sites. Doing this makes sense - the clients get to know you and your attitude to your work, they see that your company is fully committed to them, and you (as a developer) have the ability to really get to know your clients and what they want out of the system you're building.

You can certainly talk to your manager regarding the change of expectations in terms of your working location, but try not to do this in an accusing/demanding manner, just point out the disparity between what was said in the interview and what's actually happening now. Remember that situations are fluid - sometimes working environments do change to follow the needs of the client and business strategy. The calm and reasoned discussion with your boss should give you some feedback on how things are going to progress going forward.

Whether you decide to stay or leave is your decision to make.

Answer 2

If your colleague told your boss to do something, or simply refused to do the task they were allocated, it's no surprise they suffered a negative response.

If your employment conditions have changed since you have been hired, it's fair to go to your boss and ask to renegotiate your contract. Especially if it is a change to something you asked about during the interview. Of course, your boss may simply decline.

You have to be ready to accept that the business needs have changed, and if they have changed so much so that you now have an ethical problem, you may have to look elsewhere for employment.

Rather than tell your boss to stop body leasing, you have to find a way to solve the problem that your boss is trying to solve, and present a viable alternative.

You should also check your contract to see if there are any stipulations in there that guarantee a certain workplace or role.

Even if you think you have some sort of legal or ethical standing, you should ensure you resolve that with your boss, and don't simply not attend the client site as instructed.

Answer 3

First of all, you should check you contract, if it includes bodylease or not. If not, he cannot lease you to another company. Please understand, that there is a difference between bodylease (AüG) and your company working for another company at their site (Werkvertrag). You should look up the differences and check with your situation, what applies to you. Keep in mind, that if your company has more than 10 full time employees, you cannot be fired without cause. (Sentences above are just my opinion, I am not a lawyer).

In my opinion, you should explore your possibilities, can you get another job? Are you willing to lose your job without having a new one?

If you are dependent on keeping the job, I suggest to suck it up and make a good impression on the company you are working for. Maybe they will offer you a job. I do not think, you boss will change his mind about working at the clients site, unless you have the law on your side.

Anyway, I would recommand to update your CV and start looking for another job, because if you are not happy with your job, you will most likely not do the best job you can.