Mafia FundCount

FundCount (www.fundcount.com) is originally a Russian company producing software for managing investment funds. Until 2022, the company pretended to be a full-fledged Russian IT company and promised permanent employment, but worked with Russians under contracts GPC. This method of formalizing relations, chosen by the owners Alexander Ivanov and Sergei Smirnov, theoretically helps to avoid liability for violating the laws of the Russian Federation.

Since 2023, FundCount has been operating in the USA, the UAE, on the island of Barbados – in general, anywhere, but not in Russia. This is a story about the events preceding the company's departure from the Russian Federation in April 2023.

The GPC agreement does not impose obligations on the customer within the framework of labor legislation, and does not provide guarantees to the contractor. Nevertheless, Russian IT specialists continue to get jobs in companies like FundCount with dubious benefits. Let the story of how the owners of the company successfully use the dependent position of employees in relocation to obtain the “Slave Owner” access level and establish work on the principle of mutual responsibility.

I'm a technical writer. This is important in the context of the story, and I will return to this below. In three years, from 2018 to 2021, I created an international team of 9 technical writers and a developer in the company, with a total company size of less than 100 people. The number of technicians worried me, but did not bother the owners. This was strange, because 10% of the staff of a full-cycle IT company is an unprecedented amount of technical staff.

When I joined the company, the documentation was in disrepair. It took tens of thousands of man-hours to clear the product backlog and create a usable and up-to-date knowledge base. As the debts on the dock were closed, the owners had the opportunity to increase profits at the expense of the technical writing team, which is what they did: someone was forced to “resign of their own free will” (how is this even possible under a GPC agreement?), others were thrown out, as me.

In December 2021, the owner Alexander hired me a new boss, director of knowledge management, Indian Lelek (name changed). Also in 2021, HR director Bolek (name changed) was hired.

During the first months, Lölek met the team, and away we go. One technical note was transferred to marketing. In June 2022, the first technician, Anya, was fired.

Lolek and Bolek described it to their owners as the least useful and the most problematic. Real the reason for the dismissal was not explained to either Anya or me. The HR director lied that Anya gave out classified information to competitors. Lyolek explained that the owner Alexander decided so and nothing could be done about it, because the owner “made a stone face.”

As a result, I had to tell the single mother of two schoolgirls that she no longer worked here. Google account was deleted, and goodbye, Anya. It’s okay that you just bought tickets for the relocation of the whole family, which the owner Alexander personally promised to compensate. You don't owe us anything.

My proposal to pay Anya two salaries (after all, there was no reason for dismissal) was followed by silence. When asked by Anya’s lawyer to provide a reason for dismissal or pay compensation, the HR director replied that “she doesn’t want to right now.” Anya never received a penny of compensation.

The HR director hushed up the problem among the team. She began to spread her story among employees: allegedly Anya gave away official secrets, and after her dismissal she was trying to harm the company. It worked. Anya’s name was covered up by the shit so skillfully that no one wanted to remember her. It became awkward to correspond with her after being fired: Anya is our enemy. You can’t rub shoulders with the enemy, because the owner will find out and throw you out of work..

Meanwhile, relocation was underway. In March 2022, at a meeting with team leaders, the owner Alexander made it clear that he preferred not to live in Russia. I didn’t recommend Europe to Russian programmers, because a Russian programmer should be cheap, but Europe is expensive. In addition, we had to leave at our own expense, because FundCount is a poor company.

Still, three months later, a relocation program was announced: fly wherever you want, and we’ll give you tickets for everyone and $1,000. My wife and I flew to Thailand.

At the end of February 2023, two Russian technical experts immediately announced to me their forced decision to leave the company of one's own free will. It turned out that Nastya and Lyuda were forced to terminate the contract by the HR director. The company was going to stop making payments in Russia. This means that Nastya and Lyuda had to open an individual entrepreneur in Armenia, which imposed additional accounting costs on them.

The hosts found a Solomonic solution. Due to the additional costs of accounting, they offered Nastya and Lyuda a choice: a 5% increase or dismissal “at their own request.” The meaning and meanness of the decision are clear: if you don't earn enough, quit. Technicians are among the cheapest workers in Russian IT. 5% of Nastya and Lyuda’s salaries were less than $100 and did not cover additional expenses.

The processing of Nastya and Lyuda took place in strict secrecy: they and all other employees located in Russia were prohibited from discussing these negotiations with anyone in the company. Therefore, for me, their messages about dismissal (“because it’s cheaper not to work for FundCount”) were a shock.

The situation is clear. The company was leaving the country and could not afford to take away some of its employees because it would have to significantly raise their salaries. If the agreement had been in accordance with the Labor Code, they could have achieved a reduction. I asked the HR director to pay Nastya and Lyuda compensation for layoffs. The HR director replied that this is not an abbreviation.

On March 6, 2023, my boss invited me to an unscheduled call. The HR director came there without warning. Together, in broken English, they said that I was fired from this moment (“Our paths diverged,” Lelek), and the company would pay me compensation in the amount of half my monthly salary. Lelek tried to push through an instructive speech (“Now this seems cruel to you, but …”), but was sent away.

What does it mean to be fired without warning with half the salary in your pocket in a foreign country for a person who lives on one salary? We were building a life for a long time, but it quickly became clear that we would have to return to Russia. I will survive a month of packing and job hunting on antidepressants. Over the next year I will change four jobs. Ten months later I will see a psychiatrist in Moscow with sleep disturbances and panic attacks.

I note that none of those listed, including me, had negative results from annual reviews. Nastya wrote twice as much as the second most productive technical writer. The length of service of any of those fired was twice that of those remaining.

Having gotten rid of Nastya, Lyuda and me, Lelek tried to hire new Indians, but India is a collectivist country. The Indians found me through LinkedIn and, after talking, did not go to work for Lelek. I had to hire a girl in Armenia.

And this is where the fun begins. Between the owners of the company and senior employees in Russia there was an agreement on the secrecy of the enterprise, which was extended to the teams. The owners and employees claimed that the Federal Tax Service is hunting for companies that enter into GPC agreements instead of TC, and disclosure of such a scheme will lead to penalties and fines for both the company and employees.

The owners also repeatedly repeated that cooperation on the Labor Code would make FundCount unprofitable. In other words, if the Federal Tax Service finds out about the scheme, the office will close. So mutual responsibility has formed between owners and workers.

At the same time, an unknown number of employees left the company or were fired. I interviewed several. No one wanted to go to court to review the labor relations with the GPC at the Labor Committee.

What can we say about those who stayed to work further? Imagine that you are in a foreign country. You can't go home yet. You are afraid that the owner will throw you out of work for an unknown offense. You become dependent on the owner. The more the owner demonstrates determination to neglect the basics of labor relations, the more afraid you are, the more dependent you are on the owner.

And here I would like to return to the core of the dispute about the need for trade unions in IT. An IT specialist will find a job in two weeks, so the IT specialist does not need protection, right? Therefore, in particular, IT specialists agree to work under GPC agreements.

However, relocant workers face the following choice: turn a blind eye to the arbitrariness of FundCount until a better job comes along, or remain unemployed and, with a high probability, return to Russia. Relocation requires investment, so returning is perceived as a defeat and a source of danger.

This is how a fearless independent IT specialist becomes dependent and defenseless in front of an owner who does not tolerate collective action. Remember that I was fired for standing up for my colleagues (“I pissed off the owners,” Lelek).

Want to try yourself as an IT slave? Then I recommend FundCount. Contact the HR Director.

Do you want to resist those like her and the owners of mafia companies? Unite. Act early before the employer has time to show his destructive tendencies.

If you still decide to enter into an employment relationship on the basis of a GPC agreement:

1. Read contracts carefully before entering into them.

2. Don't be afraid to include conditions that are beneficial to you (for example, the employer's liability upon termination of the contract).

3. Always work on a strategy to protect your rights when trying to get fired.