Dysfunctional Team with Low Morale and High Turnover - Senior Tax Research Analyst H&R Block Employee Review

Having been utterly trounced in the tax preparation wars by industry leader Intuit (TurboTax), H&R Block continues its slow, sad slide into irrelevancy. I joined this team as a pre-retirement denouement to get back to my roots as a tax attorney doing tax law research after many years at another company serving as a manager/administrator. I resigned in disgust after less than seven months. The position was completely misrepresented to me. I was led to believe, again and again throughout the interview process, that the work was strictly responding to written questions submitted by their (so-called) "tax professionals" (many of whom are hopeless tax illiterates). As soon as I arrived, I was informed that no, in fact much of the work involved being a chat agent, which I never agreed to do and never would have left my old firm or role to lower myself to. They also lied about why the position was available (turnover). They engage in the "unlimited PTO" maneuver that is so common at Silicon Valley firms (i.e., it really means no vacation time at all, since the supervisor never approves it). As a potential remote worker, I specifically asked about the parameters for working while traveling. I was told, unambiguously, that I could work from anywhere within the United States. Then, when I openly and honestly mentioned that I was spending the day working from a location that was not my home, I was immediately reprimanded in writing and threatened with termination. So I saved them the trouble and quit. "TREX," as it's casually called, is a thoroughly dysfunctional team operating in a toxic environment. I was the second resignation (out of a team of only 10) in literally less than three weeks. Avoid this position, team and company at all costs.