Exformer employee of ArenaNet, the developer of Guild Wars 2, complains on Twitter that the billion-dollar company NCSoft owes her $400. The company refuses to pay her, as the former cinematic animator describes on Twitter.
What is the situation? The studio behind Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet, belongs to the billion-dollar company NCSoft, which can primarily make high profits with mobile games. Until recently, the employee Da-Hee Im worked at ArenaNet, and she was involved in the cutscenes of the well-known MMORPG Guild Wars 2.
Now she shares on Twitter that the corporation owes her $400 in salary and will no longer pay it. The reason is that she left the company on May 27th, and NCSoft allegedly will not pay the promised pay raise from April.
Why is this happening? The former developer explains on Twitter that salary increases at ArenaNet are paid retroactively by NCSoft.
This means that, for example, you receive a salary increase in April, but you still receive your old salary. At the end of the year, the difference between the new and old salary is paid out at once.
According to Da-Hee Im, she received a salary increase on April 9th, but it was already known that the animator would leave the company on May 27th. For this reason, NCSoft now refuses to pay her the salary difference for the nearly two months. It amounts to $400, as she writes on Twitter.
“This is self-sabotage and really stupid”
Why the company is harming itself: The former developer further explains on Twitter that NCSoft harms not only employees but also itself with this strategy. Because in this way, the corporation encourages employees not to tell anyone when they plan to leave the company.
In the USA, where ArenaNet is located, there is, unlike in Germany, no statutory notice period. Unless otherwise agreed contractually with the employer, employees can disappear from one day to the next, which can lead to organizational difficulties for the company.
By refusing to pay employees such amounts when it is already certain they will leave the company, they would promote these spontaneous exits. “This is self-sabotage and really stupid. It encourages people neither to inform the company nor their team or manager before they leave.”
Why the complaints on Twitter? According to Im, the employer did not communicate to her that there was any such regulation at all. It is also not stated in any of the employee handbooks. “As I see it, this regulation was only indicated with a single point on a single slide of a presentation, and that was only for managers,” Im writes on Twitter.
She concludes the thread on Twitter rather sadly and says:
I will always love my colleagues at ArenaNet, but I will never forget that I wanted to be polite and cooperative, stayed in the company until May 27th, just to get a knife in the back unnecessarily. […] 4 years of memories, completely ruined. And for what?
Currently, there is no statement from ArenaNet or NCSoft regarding the claims. However, we will keep you updated should this change.
What do you think of the entire situation? Do you understand the frustration of the former employee? Or do you simply find it strange that a billion-dollar company refuses to pay $400? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments here at MeinMMO.
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