Mdthbs

I work for a relatively small company (about 15 or so employees). The owner has informed us the company will close for good at the end of the year. I suspect this was done in an attempt to try and offset the expenses of all the severance packages by tempting the employees to resign beforehand for a new job.

However all staff were told to continue as normal. Given that many of our products are not compatible with competing products and many projects can take a few months to complete, and if supply of our products (not available anywhere else) were to dry up, it would require the whole projects to be redone, is it ethical of staff to withhold the fact that the company will be closing down?

Note that many of our clients are privateers doing the projects out of their own pockets (which can easily cost $20-30k).

Personally, I would prefer informing clients upfront so they can complete their projects before we close, but the staff have been told not to say anything, in fact we have been told to deny any knowledge of such plans if asked.

Your first responsibility is to your company not the customers.

Imagine if you told all the customers now, they would obviously start jumping ship. This would as you would expect drain money from the company. This could cause the company to close up shop faster thus putting you all out on the street before you had a chance to secure new jobs.

My advice is to tow the company line, and do as they say, work as if nothing is changing.

This isn't something we can answer for you, since it's really just about two competing concepts:

• The logistical, bottom-line financial perspective. This would tell
  you to tell the customers nothing. Because doing so would cause the
  company problems, and likely cause employees problems as well.


• Your guilt/responsibility about possibly costing the customers lots
  of money.

We could write paragraphs about the first; we could write paragraphs about the second. But in the end, it's going to come down to a decision on your part.

For what it's worth, I'd treat each case on its own. If someone's doing a small job that will be finished quickly? Go ahead and sell my own product. If someone's doing a large job that will require a lot of time or they may be affected a lot greater? Then I might recommend they shop around for some other solutions. I wouldn't outright tell them we were going out of business... but I'd hint that other solutions might be a better fit for their project.

Don't inform the clients, you gain nothing by doing so.

Your company has asked you not to say anything so by saying something to the clients you risk your own job ( while you still have one ) at this company. This means you may lose out on salary, benefits, and possibly a severance ( if you stay until the end ) when the company closes down. This is not solely due to you disobeying your boss ( thus risking getting terminated early ) but also your actions can cause clients to leave and force the company to close earlier than planned.

Another thing you stand to lose is possible references. By directly disobeying what has been asked of you, you are less likely to receive a good reference when applying for any new companies. Most managers will gladly write a reference when a company is closing, but if you do anything to sabotage the plans for closing the company ( i.e. telling the clients when you were asked not to ), you risk losing out on receiving a reference since you could be deemed insubordinate and untrustworthy.

However all staff were told to continue as normal.

I would suggest that, when in doubt, consult with your manager what to do. If you are not clear how to handle this information with clients, approach your manager and ask.

However, seems clear to me that they asked all of you to "continue as normal". That implies that you should make as if the closing will not happen, and thus, you should not tell anybody (clients included) that you will close down soon.

Again, if you are not sure, or if they weren't explicit on how do deal with this and clients, approach your manager and ask them how to handle this.

From my own experience, this is your employer doing something unethical and dishonest. There are laws in the USA that protect "whistle blowers" from backlash, but you'll have to research that in your own location.

If you company really is closing and going to be leaving your customers "high and dry" without products they paid for and with no way to get a refund for the products and services paid for but not delivered, this is not legal in most places and highly unethical.

Since you mention this might be a ploy to get rid of people near retirement, there's plenty of doubt on the closure of the company, too. However, trying to push out people near retirement before paying for the retirement earned is also highly unethical and a shady business practice, in general.

I'd start looking for a new job, regardless, and try to have one lined up before you quit and/or are laid off due to closure.

Since there's doubt about the company closing, I'd keep quiet for now, or you're guaranteeing trouble and possibly the closure of the business, due to customers leaving. If it gets down to less than a month and the business is showing obvious signs of shutting down without telling customers, you might want to start telling customers at that point. It would also be your choice if you do it openly or secretly. There's pros and cos for each.

Doing it openly is more likely to let the customer believe you, but you're more likely to get in trouble for it. If you do it secretly, you're less likely to get in trouble, unless the company punishes everyone, but your message will likely not get the attention it needs.

Years ago, I worked for a company that sold computer components to businesses, not only individual parts but also some bulk sales. At one point, headquarters told the manager that our store was staying open for 2 more weeks, then closing the doors and we weren't supposed to tell our customers. We were supposed to take orders and make sales as usual, which the HQ wouldn't actually honor since they couldn't get the parts anyway. My boss told me to keep quiet and that he would tell the customers the situation, which he did. He did that so I wouldn't get in trouble, but also so that the customers had correct expectations.

It's entirely up to you if you tell the customers, but I'd definitely research the protections as well as the consequences in your jurisdiction before you do anything. Fortunately, it sounds like you have time. Well, as long as no one else leaks the info. Good luck!