Throwaway. Not sure if this is the right place but just needed to vent.
I just left my old company after a bit over a year for various reasons. They tried to squeeze every last ounce of work out of us. The moment you get comfortable with the already heavy workload, they put more projects on you. Hungry 24 yr old recent grads like myself were already burnt out after a year or two. They mandated a return to their soul-crushing office, which is filled with propaganda about how great it was to work there, and all the management were yes men preaching the same. They paid less than industry standard and could get away with it for the most part. My raise was well below inflation despite their record profits last year (while everyone was remote). So I left for a better job… better pay, better company, more interesting part of the industry, fully remote, better fit overall.
Now my old company is making the transition as difficult as possible. Old boss wanted me to work during pre-planned PTO despite finishing of all my duties beforehand, adding unnecessary training that was never my job, recreating documentation that already existed, being very difficult overall. I did all that hoping to leave on as good of a place as I could and not to burden my coworkers.
I already knew that there was some money I wouldn't be able to take with me, but the latest is that they're asking for my relocation bonus back. All that money was used to relocate for the job (Uhaul, breaking my old lease, deposit on the new place, appliances), and I actually lost money on the move.
Since the money was packaged as a signing bonus and I didn't finish the 2 year term, it seems like they're legally within their right to do so and I'm SOL. The company said that they're trying to get all their ROI back from me despite having a record year last year and all that bonus money going into working for them. My bf also did the same thing but his company isn't asking for their signing bonus back bc they understand why he's leaving.
Not sure if I have any recourse, but the old company has made it clear that we're just numbers on their bottom line and they don't see us as humans.