A transition can be both a good and a bad thing for your career. It all depends on the details.

In a post on r/MaliciousCompliance, Reddit user Party_Shape557 said that their boss tried to do everything to make theirs a failure. So, the employee had to fight back.

After returning from their well-deserved PTO, they found two interns—who were secretly hired while the worker was gone—to replace them. Even more, the Redditor was told to train them.

When we take a vacation, we want to come back to how things were—or maybe an even better situation—at work

Image credits: nrradmin (not the actual photo)

This worker, however, was told that they were being fired when they returned to the office

Image credits: Prostock-studio (not the actual photo)

Image credits: mstandret (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Party_Shape557

Employees in such a situation have more room to maneuver than they might think

We managed to get in touch with the author of the post and they said they expected to be reprimanded after coming back from the vacation.

“I had a feeling that they’ll sort of retaliate against me but nothing as drastic as firing me,” the Redditor told Bored Panda.

Alison Green, the author of Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Leader’s Guide to Getting Result and the former chief of staff of a successful nonprofit organization—where she oversaw day-to-day staff management—thinks that, ethically, there’s no reason an employee shouldn’t just leave the company immediately when they’re put in such a situation.

One might also try to get something for themselves in exchange for training their replacements. Specifically, Green suggests asking for additional severance pay and recording the agreement in writing if management accepts.

Additionally, Liz Ryan, who has extensive experience as a Fortune 500 HR SVP, says that you can either complete the assignment on a consulting basis (again, with a signed consulting agreement) or as an employee—with a written agreement that you’ll get a large bonus when certain transition-related milestones are met.

If the boss isn’t comfortable with either of those options, Ryan says, leave immediately, and they can muddle through the transition on their own. According to her, it’s good to be reminded now and then that you are not so easily replaceable—to others or yourself.

Building on Ryan’s ideas, we could assume that since the Redditor knew much better than their boss how much it would cost the company (and management personally) for them to leave, their primary mission should not have been to teach the superiors a life lesson but to grow their own flame. After all, they already knew that the boss was a snake who didn’t deserve their talents.

However, Party_Shape557 explained to us that they didn’t want to quit on the spot. “It was an unfortunate predicament because, by law, I was required to serve ‘notice’ two months in advance, or I would be in legal trouble and have to pay fines for breaking the contract.”

After leaving the company, the Redditor invested time in themselves, and it paid off. “I have been working on myself while looking for my next gig, and I got one about a month after my last day at the media company.”

Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)

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