how to minimize risks during employment
You are an IT specialist and have decided to change your job. What do IT specialists usually do in such cases? They go to interviews, work on mistakes in case of refusals – and do everything again until a suitable offer is received. How many IT specialists evaluate the reliability of a future employer during their search? When planning union campaigns, we conduct employer research using a variety of sources and methodologies. This article was written to help specialists of any level, from interns to architects, because no one is immune from problems at work. We will share our experience and hope that it will help you avoid getting into trouble. unscrupulous employer.
Preface
Conducting this type of research belongs to the discipline of OSINT or open source intelligence. Therefore, if desired, you can use all available techniques from this discipline.
The main, but not the only criterion that you should focus on when researching a company is how much the potential employer differs from a conventionally bona fide IT company. A bona fide IT company means an average company that offers market average conditions for its employees.
If a potential employer has any significant “deviations,” then it is better to weigh everything several times before making a decision. For example, we assume that a bona fide IT company has its own website. Therefore, if a company does not have a website (this also happens, but more on that later), then this is a reason to be wary. Or we assume that bankruptcy proceedings should not be filed against a bona fide IT company. If a potential employer has such a business or had one in the past, but it was closed due to debt repayment, then this is a reason to be even more wary.
This does not mean that you need to focus only on the company’s “average” criterion. There are always exceptions and some features specific to your case. All “deviations” need to be analyzed in conjunction with all the information known to you.
It is impossible to take into account all risks. Let’s remember the situation with the reduction of employee salaries at Avito Armenia. A large IT company with a good reputation among specialists suddenly made an unpopular decision contrary to its promises. Was it possible to calculate this? Without insider information, most likely not. It is always better for hired employees to be prepared for unpleasant situations at work.
The Trade Union has feedback bot, which receives appeals from IT specialists who have encountered violations of labor rights at work. Therefore, in order not to consider abstract examples in a vacuum, we will analyze employers from requests: “Ansystems“, “Art Technologies“, Ovva (Messenger LLC)“MixKart“
Vacancy and communication with HR
Getting to know a potential employer begins with studying the vacancy or a letter from HR. Already on the basis of this information it is possible to draw certain conclusions about future work. But most likely this will not be enough. The IT community has long developed lists of questions for return interviews, so you can safely use them to find out more information. We will touch on a few more important topics. Further in this section, we look at some of the vacancies of our “reference” employers, which were filled by employees who contacted our feedback bot.
Registration of labor relations
The way in which labor relations are formalized characterizes the company as an employer. If the employer does not indicate the method of employment in the vacancy, such as Ovva companythen you should definitely check with HR.
About Ovva
One of the Ovva employees contacted us in mid-October. At the beginning of July, he got a job at Ovva under a GPC agreement. For 2 months of work, he was paid only part of the money specified in the contract. Moreover, in September, the employer sent the employee a claim demanding the return of the money paid. Now, in order to defend his rights, he will first have to get the court to recognize the labor relationship between him and the company.
✅ A conscientious company will suit the employee in the vast majority of cases under an employment contract. This does not exclude the possibility of labor disputes, but provides the employee with at least minimal guarantees in the event of litigation.
❌ Working under a civil contract (GPC) or, worse, “on your word of honor” automatically deprives the employee of the protection of his labor rights. Moreover, this format of relationship is simply financially unprofitable hired workers.
Schedule
Working hours should not conflict Article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. For example, in the vacancy “Art Technologies” indicatedthat the working day lasts from 10:00 to 20:00.
The employment contract of the employee who contacted us also indicated work from 10:00 to 20:00 five days a week, but the working week was 20 hours. The Labor Code allows working with part-time, but in this case the start and end times of work must correspond to the length of the working day. It follows from this that the employment contract was drawn up with violations.
✅ work 40 hours a week on a 5/2 schedule or on a shift schedule, if this is what your vacancy implies;
✅ no overtime, and if there is, then they are paid according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
❌ work schedule that contradicts the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Interviews
You should be careful about how easily you are hired. For example, if you are promised an average market salary for your specialization and grade, but are not given any technical interviews, then perhaps the future employer will give you problems.
✅ Several stages of interviews, including technical ones.
❌ No technical interviews when accepting high-paying positions.
Searching for information on the Internet
In today’s world, where people actively share information about themselves online and companies are required to provide reporting, open source searches become a powerful tool for researching companies and potential employers.
Company accreditation
In April 2022, Russian IT companies received a tool called “accreditation” into their hands. Companies with accreditation receive benefits, and their employees can receive a deferment from the army, if they have not yet served, and take out a preferential mortgage. Despite all accreditation ambiguity, for many IT specialists, especially males under 30, this is an important factor for employment. Therefore, to find out for sure whether a company has accreditation, you can look at Public services. It is worth considering that the presence of accreditation does not characterize the company as an employer. An accredited company may well be on the verge of bankruptcy.
Company resources
Find company resources on the Internet: website, profiles on social networks, Telegram channel. Look at how active social media is. A serious organization should at least have a website and regularly publish content on social networks. If there is not even a website, as in case with “Art Technologies”then you should think about whether you want to work where they cannot deploy the simplest landing page.
✅ The company has a website, Telegram channel, profiles on social networks, etc.
❌ The company does not exist in the information space.
News about the company
Search for news using search engines based on company name, shareholders, and CEO. Ideally, there should be no negative news.
✅ There is no negative news about the company.
❌ There is news about salary delays, mass layoffs, violations of Labor Code, etc.
Review sites
Read reviews about the company. For example, negative reviews about Ansystems existed since 2017, and reports of salary delays began to appear at the end of 2021. Unfortunately, now dozens of workers have to collect debts through the courts.
Location of office and legal entity
Naturally, if you are applying for a job in a large IT company that is well known to everyone, then checking addresses can be neglected. But if you are considering a little-known company, then take a look on maps and panoramas address of the office and legal entity. Sometimes you can find quite funny things, like, for example, a village house in the Moscow region, in which registered accredited IT company “Art Technologies”.
Company financial indicators
Costs note on the company’s income, expenses and net profit. For example, in the MixKart company for 2022, revenues amounted to 15.8 million rubles, expenses – 94.2 million rubles. Consequently, net profit is -78.4 million rubles.
MixKart’s capital and reserves amount to -80.8 million rubles. Negative values may indicate that the company is experiencing financial difficulties.
Next, you can look at the size of short-term and long-term liabilities. These liabilities are not expensed because they do not directly reduce earnings when incurred.
What are short-term and long-term liabilities?
Current liabilities are debts and obligations that a company must pay within one year. For example, payment to suppliers, repayment of short-term loans, payment of taxes.
Long-term liabilities are long-term debts and obligations that a company is obligated to pay over a period greater than one year. These may be long-term loans and credits, bonds or other forms of lending that are not due to be repaid in the near future.
At the end of 2022, MixKart had short-term liabilities in the amount of 82.9 million rubles. In other words, the company must repay obligations worth 82.9 million rubles in 2023.
Financial indicators suggest that Mixkart is in trouble.
Company reliability
Check:
Messages on Fedresource about the intentions of creditors to apply to the court for bankruptcy. The search is carried out by TIN.
✅ There is no information about bankruptcy.
❌ There are reports of creditors’ intentions to file for bankruptcy.
❌ There are reports that the court has accepted applications to declare the company bankrupt.
Civil cases and company bankruptcy cases in file of arbitration cases. The search is carried out by TIN.
Civil cases in themselves do not characterize a company as an employer. But the case materials contain statements of claim, court rulings and other documents that are in the public domain. These materials are worth reviewing to understand what kind of relationship a potential employer has with other companies. For example, you can find out that in March 2023 the MixKart company agreed to pay a debt of 30 million rubles to the Simple Group company by October 2026. At the same time, Mixkart is delaying the salaries of its employees (more on this below).
Labor disputes in which the company is a defendant. For example, on Moscow City Court website There are currently 5 cases against MixKart regarding the collection of wage arrears.
✅ There are no labor disputes.
❌ There are disputes about collecting wages, reinstatement and other labor disputes.
Registry unscrupulous suppliers. If the profit of a potential employer depends on government orders, then being included in the register may negatively affect the well-being of the company.
✅The company, manager or shareholders are not on the register of unscrupulous suppliers.
❌ The company, manager or shareholders are on the register of unscrupulous suppliers.
Enforcement proceedings on website Federal Bailiff Service.
✅ There are no enforcement proceedings.
❌ There are enforcement proceedings.
The information above is partially aggregated by sites for checking counterparties. Therefore, for convenience, you can use these services.
Conclusion
Let us repeat once again the resources where you can find information about companies
Now you know how to check companies before hiring. Research employers because they do the same thing when they hire you. Do not go to work for a company with a dubious reputation, poor financial performance, or where they violate laws (especially labor laws). Communicate with your colleagues share your experience company research and unite.
