Well, if he is under notice period, then he cannot bill for that assistance until he is effectively out.

Cough Oh dear Cough, here's a positive covid test cough can't come in until after my exit date.

If you are legally employed, and you wilfully withhold information they have a legal right to know, you could be liable for damages that are incurred as a result. Very bad advice.

@GregoryCurrie - They would have a hell of a time proving that in court. For starters - that provision normally only pertains to things like Background checks and compliance issues. If the company failed to adequately document it's existing projects, that's a Company problem. When you've fired the one person in the project that has specific knowledge - they absolutely can turn around and charge a consultancy rate/fee to give them that information.

Civil matters don't have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but only on a balance of probabilities. Attempts to extort the employer (as you suggest) are likely to make it pretty clear to the court what your intentions are.

That type of blackmail is not likely to work because 'Project details and strategies I’ve been working' is likely only going to come down to 'Project details' which someone else will fill in. Unless you found a way to convert Lead into Gold, they will not yield/pay and you will burn bridges

Thx, apparently phonetically challenged

@Chris - if they can get the details from someone else, then they will do so. If not, they will pay. They've already burned the bridge by firing/letting them go.

@GregoryCurrie - The lower standard of proof works both ways: "We need this super critical information from the employee" is easily countered with "Then why did you fire them and wait until 2 days before their exit date to ask for it?". They might have a leg to stand on if they had attempted to do it in a timely manner - 2 days before exit is not enough time - especially if something unforseen happened. In which case it's not extortion - it's the company paying for their own stupidity - which is still very much Legal.

To which any competent attorney would respond that if that were the case, they have no excuse for leaving it to the last minute and could have scheduled it in any time after handing them the notice. Then pointing out the companies failure to plan ahead properly is not a reason to claim extortion and that the ex-employee is within their rights to request to be paid, at market consultant rates.

The good old "Some people are being a$$holes, which justifies myself being even more of an a$$hole myself" approach. What a sad way to go through life.

As much as your try to obfuscate matters, what remains clear is that the employee was duty bound to share that information, given they were still employed. When it comes to deciding the proportion of damages, the judge will look at a number of factors, including if the employee acted with malice (which is the case here). A paper trail indicating the employee deliberately acted against their employers interests while they were employed in order to secure a contract, is reasonably damning.

In addition to all this, in certain jurisdictions, it can actually be a criminal offence to withhold certain types of information, such as passwords to systems. So before the employee decides to hold a gun to their employers head, they have to determine if the risk of a criminal conviction is worth whatever petty moral/financial victory they hope to accomplish.

Actual Malice is a pretty high standard - the textbook case of password withholding being criminal required deliberate actions over months to meet the threshold. You'd also need a Judge to dismiss a Covid Test as being a valid reason not to come into work (good luck on that), you would also need to provide this thread as proof (pretty difficult when he's not used his real name and no identifiable info was used) - It's not obfuscation, it's a simple truth - you are well within your rights to demand payment for your knowledge and time after you've been fired at Contractors rates.

This is neither uncommon or unheard of for a Company to foolishly dismiss an employee that has specific knowledge that they then require, for that individual to charge a significant fee for their services - all completely legally.

Yes, but only after they left. While they are still employed (and they said they have to work for 2 more days, so for those two days they are employed), what you suggest is somewhere between a reason to fire the OP immediately for cause and criminal proceedings.

@nvoigt - Sure, but as you say - it's in a Grey Area - and to get to that grey area they would have to prove that an absence of 2 days was malicious - a Covid Test, Doctors Note, 48 hr tummy bug, family emergency - take your pick - all legitimate reasons for missing work and all very easy to obtain 'evidence' for. After which - the OP is within their rights to ask for payment for Time/Services.

I don't see the grey area, what you suggest is fraud. It might be hard to prove, but advice to commit fraud is rarely good advice.

"Hey, didn't you use to work with Eskimo Joe? He's applied for a job here. Any good?" "Yeah, he was alright. But then he got let go which was sad, but there was some big problem, I don't know the details but he was asking for money or something". CV gets thrown in bin.

I think there's a difference between "what can I get away with" and "what should I do". I think it would be easy here to avoid transferring any knowledge before the employment has expired. In fact, a genuine situation could arise which would prevent the knowledge transfer. But if no such situation arises, is it right to fake such a situation? The employee was paid to generate the knowledge they have, and they will be paid for their final 2 days in which they are expected to transfer it.