I got laid off while I was on my way to work. They told me in a text to not go in and they would call. In a matter of minutes I had no job, no health insurance, and I didn't have a plan. There was no warning that this was going to happen, I was always assured that I was needed. I have two kids and my partner was a SAHD. He immediately picked up work from a friend and I'm now a stay at home mom... In a matter of a week. For a moment I felt sorry for them that their company isn't doing so well, but that was brief. I'm now f**king livid and can't believe I gave them so much of my time and energy the past few years. I f**king hate that it took a company to make some bad decisions to make me lose health care for my babies. This is a f**ked up place. I knew it before but now it's a lived experience. Sorry just had to rant into the void.

djlindalovely , Uriel Mont Report

Showed up to work and my key card didnt work at the door. I tried calling my “friends” at work and they kept hanging up. Apparently they were told to ignore any calls or texts from me and to not acknowledge my presence at the building. I only know this bc the nicest person I worked with slipped me that info and said how sorry they were. This place made me miserable and Ive wanted to quit since I started. They had a high turn around rate but I needed the money so I ignored the red flag. In case you’re wondering, they have highly unrealistic expectations and lied about what they were going to pay me. I feel no remorse and its probably for the best. P.S.: I later emailed about why I wasnt notified and they said “oh sorry about that, but your services are no longer needed.”

Edit: Since so many are asking, Ill just say its a gun manufacturer in Watertown, Wisconsin. I have no association with guns or the gun community it was just a paycheck bc I was desperate. This company is full of racists and homophobes and people wayyyy to comfortable with sexual harassment.

theKunerix , Alex Green Report

I’m literally shaking as i’m typing this so please disregard any typos that may appear.

I work in the pharmacy department of one of the largest and most well respected employee-owned grocery stores in the world. “Lunch breaks” don’t exist here since we’re always short staffed and prone to rushes completely overwhelming us very easily, so lunch is scarfed down whenever there is a millisecond of downtime (on the clock).

A few days ago, I saw my chance to speed walk towards the tea isle and snag a can of Arizona so I can pay for it and get back to work with no time wasted. That’s how it usually goes, except this time there was a long line of customers ahead of me waiting to pay. As I’m waiting, I decide to crack it open and take a sip. I pay for it and immediately go back to my department.

An hour later, my department get visited by the store manager and two assistant store managers and they proceed to question me about the tea. I show them my receipt and tell them that they can check the cameras for proof that I in fact paid for my drink. Then they proceed to tell me that they did in fact check the cameras, and they saw me break company policy for drinking a beverage before paying for it… I was in such disbelief that I was speechless, jaw droppingly speechless. The store manager then tells me to “choose my next words very carefully”, as if to imply that my career is on the line. He asked me if I’m under the influence of anything. Seriously??? I tell him no, and he immediately sends me home early and tells me that I am temporarily banned from the premises until they hear back from corporate.

FOUR UNPAID DAYS LATER, I get a call from the manager and he asks me if I can come in to talk about my future. I drive an hour across town just to sit down in a room full of corporate scum and listen to them attempt to make me seem like some criminal for “theft of merchandise”…. even though I paid for it. Fired me right then and there. A BILLION DOLLAR FORTUNE 500 COMPANY CANNOT HANDLE THE “THEFT” OF A 99 CENT CAN OF TEA.

meanwhile I’m 19 years old already living out of my car while using my gym membership for simple amenities. i wasn’t making a livable wage to begin with, rent in my city keeps rising, i feel like a f**king loser, i don’t know what to do, my body hurts, i feel so alone, i hate this life, i just want to scream until my lungs liquify.

themarkofcjay , Connor Dickson Report

My husband was fired from his job in January of 2021 after 10+ years, because we got Covid and he was down for the count for like a month. 2 weeks ago, out of the blue, one of the higher ups sent him a text, asking him to reach out because she hadn't talked to him in a year. Yesterday I found his old job being advertised for $5 more than what he was making when he was fired (this is the 3rd time since he was fired Ive seen it advertised).

My husband was a construction manager. He took the job at 19, so he wasn't aware of the real value his work and position had. When he was fired, he was making $17/hr. It's been a year and a half and they're realizing they can't get anyone else to do that job for less than 30.

I told him to reach back out and tell them he will come back, but not for less than $45/hr.

Solid_Information_66 Report

Feeling a bit numb and lost. I’ve only been working there for a little over a year, but it was the first job I’ve had that I actually looked forward to going to. My work was hybrid and I could decide when I wanted to go into the office, but I got along well with my coworkers and worked well with them so I liked being in the office. We’d have hangouts occasionally after work as well.

And then my boss was the best I’ve had. She would check in on me occasionally - not my work but me personally - but other than that she never micromanaged and only cared I was getting my s**t done, not how I did it. And she was just a really cool and smart person.

I know it was a decision that came down from the owner because my boss was blindsided as well. I was one of 50 layoffs.

I guess it’s a decent severance package - I’ll still be paid in full with benefits for the next 60 days and then after that I’ll get my severance which is about a month worth of pay.

I dunno, just feeling lost right now because it was the first job I’ve had where I actually saw myself staying there for a while. I guess it’s just a lesson that no matter how good the company is or seems, you can’t count on them to have your back and you truly only have yourself.

anonymous Report

I got a offer in my field across the country in a place I’ve always wanted to live and the offer is for 3x what my currently salary is. So it was a no brainer to accept because I’d never make that in the state I currently live in. I went to give my boss a three month notice (I have a very uncommon job that takes years of training). I’ve never given a notice that large before but I thought I was doing the right thing. My boss told me that he couldn’t trust me anymore and I had to go that day. I’ve never been fired before in my life , I never called out or showed up late and was constantly doing my best.

ostrage , August de Richelieu Report

He worked nights unloading the semi trucks and was rated the fastest person out of the group, they promoted him a position and everything. Without warning, he went to look at his schedule and his account was deleted. He called HR and they simply said he was let go with no explanation, also letting him know he would not be eligible for the $3000 signing bonus.

My brother is not the type of person to press them for legal action or whatever, so any tips are appreciated but will most likely be overlooked by myself.

Just want to say f**k Amazon, just don’t work for them, end of story.

FlabertoDimmadome Report

Work in an insurance office full of your typical awful office karen's that I have never gotten along with.

They have tried to pull me into their little highschool rumor and s**t talking thing and I nope'd out and declined all invitations for after work "girl fun".

I'm here to work.

Anyways I got called into the principles office I mean HR and they sat me down and explained that I was being reprimanded for non-professional behavior as reported by one of the karens.

I asked for an explanation of what it was that I did and at first they didn't want to explain it. I immediately recognized that I'm being targeted by the karens to get rid of me because it's important that I play their childish games.

So I hold my ground and explain that I can't fix behavior if I'm not told what it was that i was doing wrong. They explained that I was being lewd/rude on a personal cellphone call. As you can tell I do cuss a lot never in office, and I'm never on a personal call unless I'm on a break, or on lunch (unpaid 1hr) so I asked for further details, when, where, what did I say etc.

What it was: Yesterday, while I was on my lunch break, I was outside in a little patio area where lots of people eat their lunches outside. The thing I said was a yo mamma joke. Not even a good one, just "and yo mamma so fat she has her own gravity" joking with my friend on the phone.

I was on my personal time, technically still on work property but it's against the parking lot and there was like 3 people within earshot outside smoking.

Well they explained the joke isn't really the issue so much as the karen who reported me just lost her mother to covid and the joke, that wasn't even directed at her, offended her enough to report me for it and HR ran with it.

I refused to sign the infringement because that's some NASA grade bulls**t and instead offered to apologize to the woman for her loss and try to explain that it was not directed at her in any way and that I would be careful about what I say AROUND her. I've never had an issue with work ethic, being late, issues with customers, or any other issue with me working there.

Nope, "sign this or you're let go as of your lunch hour today"

I walked. F**k'em.

Yomamasorude Report

This one happened yesterday to my wife's best friend.

She worked for a facility that provides education for young adults with special needs. They work with severe handicaps as well, and the child she was with frequently lashes out, kicks, spits, etc. She loved the job though, and by all indications they loved the work she did since she started last summer.

Until she became pregnant. Once she advised them she was pregnant, management became cold and callous towards her. She would be lectured for going to the bathroom, scolded for being late from a doctor's appointment, etc.

Monday, her doctor put her on restrictions that provided no lifting above 15 pounds (she would frequently lift children in and out of wheelchairs) and to avoid working with students that might potentially kick her in the stomach, as she has a history of miscarriage. She presented these restrictions to management yesterday morning.

An hour later, they called her into the office and said that they could not work around these restrictions, terminated her, and welcomed her to come back "after your pregnancy has ended".

Needless to say, she won't be returning, and has already filed for unemployment.

chibul Report

I am so upset. My life has been anything but easy from the beginning. Part of the trouble was my parents pulled me out of school after 7th grade to run the farm and that was that. I was married and pregnant at 19, working full time when my husband got sick, I took on another full time job. I slept so little. I had a mental break, literally. I never thought I'd get a good job or overcome my limitations. Between working 2 jobs, a baby and a sick husband I couldn't catch up on schooling. I worked my a*s off for a handful of different companies padding my resume with experience. I had been applying to this specific job for 3 years. I finally got the interview. I got the job, I was at the bottom of the food chain but I didn't care. I had made it in. I worked my a*s off and made it into a senior analyst role on a 7th grade education, solely based on my experience and production. After a year in the role the company bought another company but basically handed all the power to the new company. Quickly all the higher ups were laid off or retired early. They sent out an email they wouldn't be laying anyone else off. They scheduled training for all of us on the new systems. On the second day of training we all got the emails we were being laid off. Since then I have been handed a handful of diagnoses that were "triggered" by the stress of losing my job. I was the main breadwinner. We are f**ked. I've been on a couple different meds trying to figure out what will work best. I have been too unstable to work. I am ok now and was dying to get back into the industry I was thriving in. No one is hiring. It's been months. Over 175 applications in the last 3 months. Not one interview. Welp, here we are and I'll be stocking shelves for $20+ less an hour than I was making before. F**k this s**t.

Also, I recognize and understand as well as empathize that there have been and are people in far worse situations. I'm just venting mine. My husband has enough stress trying to keep a roof over our head for me to dump it on him.

ALSO we have lived in the same house for almost a decade. We didn't change our lifestyle when I was promoted either time, besides eating out more. Inflation is just killing everyone rn.

StonerMa96 Report

I was the manager of a network engineering team for a medium/large sized for 20 years and was terminated in 2019. We had various passwords for routers depending on line of business the routers belonged to. My team had the administrative passwords stored in a secure, electronic password vault. Fast forward to last week when something got into the routers and locked everyone out, now they need the admin passwords but apparently the vault was taken offline and removed two years ago. Apparently half their business is at a standstill and they can’t make payroll until this is fixed. They called me demanding the passwords and when I couldn’t produce them, they wanted to sue me. What a bunch of a*sholes. First they fired me they want to sue me 4 years later. Laughable. Only in America.

anonymous Report

I’ve worked at the business since I was 14. I was released because the new ceo decided to, “give more power back to the administrators.”

As I got up to leave and was told I had a computer and when I denied it, was told I was lying about it (I later located the computer for them. It was in an office.) Upon being accused of stealing and lying I said to the new ceo, “F**k you you f**king prick. I’ve been here 22 years and you’ve been here 6 months.”

Anyway, they wont give me my pto now (166 hours) because of this. However, today they tried to use my PTO to bargain with because they need my help with an upcoming audit.

Edit: I should add the employee handbook explicitly states if you are released without cause they have to pay it out. They’re trying to reverse engineer cause now.

spookyspooky Report

I was recently laid off on a Friday morning. The circumstances were almost laughable as the company is battling unprecedented turnover, extremely low morale and everyone feeling overworked and undervalued. So they went ahead and decided to reorg and lay off a number of sales teams across the country.

I was presenting our Q4 products in front of the entire wholesaler sales team when I get an email about a meeting in about an hour. No big deal, I’m thinking I should be wrapped up by then and can jump on the call in my car. Fast forward 25 minutes and I get a text from my VP that I need to be on this call right now…because they sent me an email (not an invite) listing the meeting in the wrong time zone. Idiots. I go somewhere private, jump on, am told they’re reorganizing and effective immediately my position is eliminated. Mind you, I’m in the middle of a presentation. I had to go in and pull someone aside to let them know I was just let go and was going home. I could literally see word traveling amongst upper management and them turning visibly angry….the timing could not have been any worse. More than anything I felt relieved that the door closed because I knew immediately I’d be moving onto something with a better company, and all I could do was really laugh at how poorly executed it was and how bad the company looked in front of one of the largest wholesaler partners it has anywhere in the country. I was also supposed to be picking up a relatively large amount of product to disperse amongst some clients and my other team members which I just left. My company ultimately got billed for what I didn’t take and charged a fee per unit as a penalty.

_Let_Us_Prey_ Report

I was told I could take my lunches and breaks at the end of the day and leave early. Eventually I was fired without notice for logging hours without working.

My previous employer is asking me to pay back all the money they say they paid me when I wasn’t working. They’re saying that instead of suing me/reporting me to the police they just want me to pay $1,117 dollars. I was not the only person fired under the exact same circumstances. She left at the same time as me everyday and is not being asked to repay anything.

I asked for the specific hours and they threatened to take further legal action if I asked for them or any other information.

I can’t afford to pay them right away and I can’t afford a lawyer. Any thoughts?

**Edit: I live in the state of Michigan. Also, my coworker who was fired as well is not being asked to repay anything.

I’m being asked to repay this amount by a former supervisor. When I ask for documentation he threatens to take it to legal and have them sue me/report me. I have nothing in writing except for the exact amount they want.

Update (also in comments):

Sorry for a late update. I decided to ignore them and move on as I didn’t see it was worth my time. Last I heard from them was early-mid August. (For context, I was fired at the start of July. They began asking me to pay them around late July).

However, today I received an email from someone in HR requesting to call me about a concern that was brought to her. I thought it was a bit weird that she reached out instead of my previous supervisor (who has been the main contact). I replied and asked for more information. She reiterated that they are looking into a concern brought to their attention.

So now I’m thinking two things: 1. My supervisor just decided to have the legal department take care of it because I ignored him or 2. My supervisor was full of s**t and they’re investigating him. I’m hoping for scenario #2 but expecting #1.

I have reached out to a few law firms and requested a consultation. I’m going to start looking into contacting the department of labor as well as some of you have suggested.

disappoint-mint Report

Hi, I (M17) started working at a factory as a part of an apprenticeship 10 months ago to the day. Today I was called into the office and was told my contract is being terminated due to my Bradford score, essentially a score of your attendance. My score was high and I didn’t understand why, every day I’ve had off I was either ill and / or was told to go home, or I had it pre-booked off. I argued against the termination and my boss said there was nothing he could do, even though there was, he was THE boss. It’s been a few hours since I left and my other coworkers felt awful, my mother has called in telling them it’s an unfair dismissal because I’ve not had any prior warnings about my attendance beforehand, which was apart of the letter they gave me.

I was off for 12 days total because of heat stroke, gastritis and a broken elbow, all separate occasions. I find it a miracle how little time I had off, this all happened since October 2023 and now it’s July 2024. They believe ‘it’s showing red flags’ which I could understand, even though it was my coworkers telling me to go home when I was ill and that SAME boss telling me I couldn’t go into work with my broken elbow.

I’ve had a rough few years and this job gave me exactly what I wanted, it gave me an open space with incredible coworkers, minimum wage for an apprenticeship (6.40 ph/ $8.13 ph for my Yankee bros), and a reason to keep going on, my boss didn’t care when I said that.

I’m super frustrated and confused, my mother has been spam calling my boss for the past hour and a half now and he’s dodging the answer button like it has Ebola.

Stock-Meet-377 Report

Ive been experiencing really bad knee pain and asked my boss if it was ok to work 4 days out of the week instead of the 5 so that I can rest my knees and he went off on me about something else, and said the pain I was experiencing was just an excuse and that my issue was something else. I ended the conversation with saying ok I'll see you Monday. And while on my way home he sent a text message stating tht I shouldn't come back to work. Can I use this as proof to collect unemployment??? I'm still owed one check.

Some context: I work 40 hours a week m-f standing. I'm a pattern cutter my pay was $20 an hour, I had 30min lunch break. This job had no pto, no vacations/ holidays, no benefits either. Basically worked there to get by while I finished school. I recently graduated and returned to work full time but when I voiced a concern to my boss he lashed out and just decided to let me go via text message.

My boss nephew is only working part-time and leaves at 12 for the same issues with his knees......

SonoBisque Report

I worked almost two years for a really s***ty company where the bosses clearly don't respect their employees. But they were kinda 'hands-off' and I got along well with my co-workers so I stayed for a long time. I put a lot into this job- there were times I showed up despite being ill just because I knew the company was understaffed and I didn't want my co-worker to be the only one there.

Recently, I got an opportunity to move and I took it. I sent in a three-week notice because I guess that was the polite and professional thing to do. I worked there for another week, and then I got a text last Sunday saying that my last day was actually last Friday.

That didn't bother me too much, but I left a lot of personal items at the office, and hadn't submitted my timesheet for my last week yet- so I went back on Monday to clean up. Well, the newly promoted manager told me that I wasn't allowed in the office anymore. The bosses had messaged her in the morning to tell her to not let me in. Specifically me.

They have a rule that "former employees and non-employees are not allowed in the office." It's not a rule that's enforce at all. The bosses have his personal friends come in all the time, and former employees are definitely allowed back- if they're friends with the big man.

My coworkers had to stuff my personal belongings into a trash bag and hand it to me outside. I was told to fill out my last timesheet outside- in the car park. The only place I could write on was the ground, the wall, or on someone's goddamn car. I wasn't even allowed in the office lobby to at least use a table. It was humiliating. I was outside, with the cameras watching me, sobbing with two of my coworkers because I wanted to tell them goodbye. And I know that they probably got lectured when they went back in. The bosses don't like them allocating even ten minutes to a business phone call, so they'll definitely be mad that they spent any time saying goodbye to a former employee.

It's a small office. There were literally only four of us, so I ended up becoming close to my co-workers. I wasn't even allowed the dignity of a proper goodbye.

studio_efan Report

I'm a senior software developer who just got fired from a Fortune 500 company.

When I was hired, it was clear that the situation was bad. When I arrived in the office, every single developer looked burned out. When I asked about the job, they would all sadly smirk and say "We don't want to influence you".

On my first day, I received a laptop with the name of the previous guy, who I was replacing. In less than a month, two people gave their notice after landing new roles. After that, management freaked out and gave us a TED Talk and told us remaining developers about how much they cared for us, that our voices were important, that they were going to do better, and how we were saving lives and curing cancer... you know the spiel. I didn't fall for it, of course.

After that, they hired two new guys. As soon as they had enough people again, things were the same once again. In less than a month, one of the new hires gave his notice too. He tried pushing for some (very good) changes and got backlash for it. After that, I saw the writing on the wall and started applying.

Unfortunately, they must have noticed I was not very excited about my job and doing the bare minimum and decided to fire me while I was taking my car to the mechanic. I got a call from the staffing company letting me know they didn't need me anymore. It was a mixed feeling because as much as I hated my managers, the pay was pretty solid and the team was nice enough. He asked me to return the laptop.

Here is where things get interesting. After I got home I opened my laptop and it turns out these idiots forgot to disconnect me from their services, especially Microsoft Teams. I decided to say goodbye to the people that I thought were nice. After that, I sent a message to my former boss saying that he was the worst manager I've ever had and he's the reason why people are leaving or being fired, because he is not competent enough to manage a team and doesn't know how to communicate. I told him to go f**k himself too. He visualized the message and didn't say anything because he knows he is a cowardly little man.

I told his superior pretty much the same thing. They're probably buddy-buddies, so nothing is going to happen, but I know for a fact he saw the message. So maybe I can hope that the guy gets fired?

So yes, I scorched that bridge and I don't care one bit. I'm never working again for that company. It pisses me off that it's ALWAYS the employees' fault. How come these people are 2 quarters behind in their schedule, developers are leaving left and right and they still get to keep the job while the people who actually do the work don't?

Anyway, now I'm unemployed but at least I was able to tell them how I really feel. I know I'll eventually land another job since they can't do the work themselves.

PetrifiedDuck Report

My husband was laid off without warning today.

He loved his job and who he worked with. He got great reviews (4.3/5 avg) and he was well liked. So it’s easy to say this was a shock

He started his day like normal and then he got a meeting invite from HR and a manager. We convinced ourselves they were giving him a promotion. Nope.

They laid him off due to it being a “business decision”. Come to find out, no one knew these layoffs were happening, not even the managers. It was chaos; everyone was scared for their jobs all day. My husband even fought for his job back based on merit but the decision was made by a higher up who couldn’t care less. Can I also add the company is not hurting for money

This sucks for so many reasons:

1. We just bought a house and interest rates are crazy

2. We were literally a month away from me quitting my job so we can start a family

3. Student loans are due again

4. This is the biggest one for me; they destroyed my husbands confidence. He’ll never feel secure in a job again

It feels so infuriating that a few peoples pockets get stuffed at the expense of hardworking people and we can’t do anything about it. We just feel defeated

EDIT: I made this post and went to bed thinking it may get some traction but holy cow! I’m going through and reading all the comments this morning

His company has continued layoffs this morning. More and more people are getting the axe and the chaos has not stopped

Dry_Drummer_2297 Report

I'd been working for this game studio for more than 10 years. A few years ago it was bought by a group company, but the CEOs kept their independence in leading and decision making. The bosses were always more or less authoritarian and paternalistic, but the pay was alright and it was really convenient for me because my husband also works there. We are (were) both very efficient, with unique skills for our department, but he is way more appreciated, be it for being a man, be it for being more diplomatic than me.

With the recent advancements in AI, the CEOs rushed to ride the wave of AI generated game content and ordered us to use Stable Diffusion for anything and everything and to buy the premium version of ChatGPT - with our own money. They told us indirectly that if we didn't follow the orders we'd be let go (very illegal here in Europe). They wanted us to use ChatGPT for 1 hour daily outside of work and report at the meeting the following day. I silently refused to buy ChatGPT, but did ask the HR what would be the consequences of not buying it, he said he didn't know of any. :) Yet, I dug deep into Stable Diffusion despite my dislike of using it, and made a thorough guide for the others to use, I even shared my findings with one of the bosses who was constantly keeping an eye on us. Meanwhile the CEOs promoted AI content to the group directors and promised them very high quality and quantity for a reduced amount of working hours. That wasn't really achievable, so they put more and more pressure on the whole team, even making some of the people come to work on Sunday.

About a month later, the group company made a poll regarding our satisfaction at work and seeing the answers were anonymous I shared my discontent with my bosses' behavior. Another month passed by and I (and 2 more colleagues from my dept) got suddenly laid off, in the middle of a few very busy projects, with nobody to cover for us. I got told the group company ordered the staff reduction due to reduced amount of work. By the end of the day I had to finish what I'd started (being in shock, I did) and all my accounts got suspended and deleted. After 10 years. The HR didn't even approach me directly, he first called my husband to tell him the news and asked him to keep it from me. He then basically warned me not to sue and showed concern that the lay off may cause turmoil between me and my husband (wtf?!).

On the next day, CEO1 called my husband to ask him whether he's bitter I got laid off because they don't want to lose him and explained to him why I was one of the chosen ones. The group company had apparently showed them the anonymized answers to the poll and scolded them, so the CEOs suspected me of being the whistleblower.

I found it cumbersome and useless to file a lawsuit or report to the Labor inspectorate, but I did use the whistleblower platform of the group company and asked them for the reasons of being laid off, while further describing the studio's attitude toward me. I haven't yet received an official answer to my report, but I got the news that last week the CEOs had to unexpectedly cancel their vacations because a group company representative had come to the studio and had them both fired.

This was way more than I expected and just made my day!

TintenfishvomStrand Report

Was promised shares in a startup, worked 2 years and the day before registering the company got told I wasn't necessary

A psychologist from Warsaw wanted to make an app related to her field (she didn't even know what was necessary to make that, she had and still has 0 technical skills) I gave her advice, explained everything that was necessary, prepared the business plan, how much everything should cost, made promotional videos and wrote down all the nice to have and must have. When she finally found an investor (that has seen those videos and thanks to that she got the money) we started talking to an external software house that had to realize the app. I was present at every call, was even cited as CTO in many documents and the promised shares were 15%. Then an external guy came in and she had some kind of affair with him and they called me to tell me I never did anything (I have proof via mail of every work I did for them) and that I as CTO had to be below the COO (this new guy) and I wasn't gonna get any shares as I was more of a hired worker. I got mad and left the project. Past a month they call me to make me sign some document where I had to accept 3000zł (750$ LMAO) for 2 years of work and agree to never want to perform legal actions against them. I said I wan't ok with that and they said it's all they can give me and that we worked together on that and I shouldn't ask for a payment as we worked simultaneously (wtf does that mean? Idk but whatever).

What do you advice? In this case I spoke to a lawyer, and have to gather evidence and write down the approximate hours of work I put into it. Anyone had a similar situation?

(The day after I left the project they registered the company and my shares went to that new guy) Can't tell more as I signed an NdA.

chtulu- Report

I just got laid off no notice or anything before. I worked there for 5 years and a week now. I've never been notified of performance issues and at the beginning of the year, my boss was even talking to me the next steps in my career.

Now this morning, only an hour into the day, I had a meeting invite for what looked like one of my biweekly one-on-one with my boss but this time a HR rep was included. When it started my boss just started reading from a script just completely toneless the entire time and immediately leaving after without giving me a chance to say anything to her and leaving the only the HR rep. The company always talked about how they care about employees and that they are family but then turn around and do this.

I'm so pissed off and scared. Admittedly I didn't really like the job but it was stable and I was able to support myself. Now I've been sitting here crying and barely able to breath. Idk what I'm going to do.

TheGoodDeed Report

"Company restructuring". I have been with them since 2010, was a Senior Manager. Joined when it was just getting past it's startup stage, and have grown with it over the years.

At the beginning of the year we got a new boss, who restructured the team. I lost 2 out of 3 of my direct reports, destroying my team and ruining what I have built over the last couple of years. It shifted my responsibilities, but was a chance to get back to doing something other than managing people which I was looking forward to.

Fast forward to this morning, get a calendar invite from HR and my manager "URGENT MEETING". Figured what it was, the writing has been kind of on the wall, even though just last week my manager asked me if I would be interested in her position if she got promoted. So kind of a surprise, but also not.

Lots of emotions at the moment. This job lasted longer than my marriage. It was my first "grown up" corporate job. Made some life long friends.

Honestly kind of relieved? Oddly enough. I think I was ready for a change and a new challenge. I am financially secure, getting a decent severance, so I can take some time to find something I love. But at 47. I am a bit scared s**tless to find a new job. Getting prepared for a roller coaster the next few days as I sort it all out.

MuckSavage76 Report

This sub reminds me of something that happened to a buddy of mine back in the day. It was his first full time job and he lived in a 1 room flat with a friend.

He was a good employee who showed up for work and did his job, no write ups. One day, he took 3 garbage bags home. He didn't think this was a big deal, didn't try to hide it. The assistant manager gives him a ride to the bus station and notices he has 3 garbage bags. The AM asks "your taking these from work"? Friend casually says yeah I have some old clothes that I'm getting rid of and cleaning up my apartment. AM says nothing.

The next day friend is terminated. The AM informed the manager that friend has taken 3 garbage bags from work. The manager even writes on his termination paper that friend is dismissed for "employee theft of 3 garbage bags"

The AM held his head down and wouldn't make eye contact with my friend. Didn't say anything or apologise.

Now I notice every McDonald's I see is hiring and in desperate need of workers. They would probably give away boxes of garbage bags as a signing bonus if they thought it would work. They've probably f**ked a lot of employees over the years because it was no sweat off their a*s. Times have changed. F**k them.

EDIT: I am astounded by the amount of people that are defending the manager and saying they would have done the same. Some have even suggested he was lucky "charges weren't brought against him". For stealing 3 plastic bags.

An alarming amount of people also say the cost of the item doesn't matter because "stealing is stealing" whether it's a posted note, plastic bag, or merchandise. I really can't comprehend this attitude. How many people here would expect to be fired for grabbing a pencil? I could do that right infront of my boss and he wouldn't even question it

BilbosBagholder Report

This is my first time getting fired.

I’m not the person to get in trouble or create problems and I never have been. I have BPD and it causes me to have suicidal thoughts which have been very strong.

The worst part is I know I deserved it. I was leaving early, sleeping late. The decision was attendance (not being on camera and being away from my computer, leaving the office early) and taking too long on a project when we had no data (I was expected to be a magician idk).

The brand was failing and I couldn’t say anything was getting better (to customers) because it wasn’t. I was always broke. Nobody ever trained me then wondered why I didn’t know things. I didn’t have a manager for a while so just did whatever after I finished the work (I don’t need 8 hours). When I did have a manager she micromanaged me with 4+ calls a day. She was never trained herself so I’d walk her through how I did everything. We lined up who does what and I had 18 more tasks since she didn’t know anything. Then she took credit for my work. I had reported a higher up for disrespecting me and nothing was ever done. I was overworked, and basically told “sorry this isn’t your job but we have a small team”. I was the first point of contact so everyone got to do whatever they wanted while I got the angry emails.

I hated the job. I had been telling them I was so unhappy since December. Asking for a new role.

I can’t stop beating myself up. I know there’s so many people on this earth but I feel like the only person this has happened to and I’m so dumb. I had so many dreams in college to be successful just to be here scrambling to find a job since I still have bills and rent.

BobsBurgersFannn Report

I got saddled with a horrible manager after my manager died, and now that he has successfully convinced the leadership team to root me out, i eventually got fired after 1.5 years under his wing. Mind you I had been in the same role for 5 years with a previous manager. I knew they were trying to steer me out the door so i preemptively starting applying. When I applied I had a job, when I went for a couple of the follow up interviews I didn’t. Fearful that they would verify employment I told two potential employers my position had been eliminated. One has dropped me and another is slow to call me back, so I’m assuming that they’re out also. I was at this job for 9’years and otherwise have a good work history for 20 years. Anyone ever have a similar situation, if so what’s the best answer here?

Okie294life Report

Been working at this mom and pop butchery for 4 weeks now and everything was going great! I got along with everyone, I got all my work done and then some, I had good rapport with customers. Nothing at all hinted anything was amiss. Recently they hired a new guy who has 5 years experience in butchery for the night shift and was in talks yesterday about furthering my training with this guy. Just this morning, half an hour before my shift, I got called and informed that because they are paying this new guy a dollar less and the Indian guy minimum wage, they're firing me. I loved my job...

Edit: since there seems to be some discourse over my stating of his race, I specifically stated it as that is the literal reason he is being payed minimum wage as said more than once by my former employer. I have nothing against him and got along fantastically with him and his wife who also worked there.

Asaias_Wolffe Report

I've been working since I was about 17 (im 31 btw), and tbh, even some of my food service jobs had better management than this.

I was only at this job for 6 months, and it was a very low effort job compared to the project management jobs I've had since finishing college. I just needed a break because I wanted to transition into a different career path but needed income. I always met deadlines for assigned special projects and met turnaround times for work from external people that came in to us via email. Did I over work and go above and beyond.. no, but I wouldn't say my work was below average. I'd understand if I didn't meet any deadline or took way too long responding to emails but that was never thr case. My direct manager went out on medical leave and has been out for a while and in the mean time the managers left to "oversee" us were doing poorly and micromanaging us. My team would have 30+ minute rant sessions at every stand up meeting bc we were so frustrated. As a result, there was a slight dip in my productivity but again, I was still meeting my assigned expectations. I was not communicating down to the small detail they wanted and apparently got mad I communicated something over an email once rather than Slack (for real it was a one time email that I replied to bc it was where management shared details about a new project to work on). I expressed my frustration to the contracting company I was hired under, my team, and then to management. I remained professional with my concerns and in response, they tried micromanaging more.

I had a 5 day turn around time for "improving my productivity" and I said I'd gladly end my employment at the end of the 5 days bc its not going to motivate me to work harder and I'm not going to bust my a*s for 5 days just to prove myself. In response they said effective immediately I am to leave. At least that was at 930am so I get the whole day off (:

alee03072 Report

Just wanted to vent a little and get it off my chest before starting my next chapter.

I've been a lead flexographic print operator for 5 years now, I was printing an order that uses an invisible ink that can only be seen with a blacklight, the company installed a new black light in the box along with curtains and said we were good to use it to check for the invisible ink but due to how dim the light was it ended up hiding a skipping spot, me and 3 people missed it including supervisor, quality, and another respected operator. We all missed it because the faulty light was hiding it perfectly. They ended up firing me because I was the lead op that night. My advice is to be careful when using company provided equipment.

AJ170 Report

Background info: This takes place in Cambodia.

I was hired to teach economics at a school, but on my first day they told me they hired a different person to teach economics but I could teach English instead.

Through the year the principal kept trying to take away my higher grade classes and given them to other teachers and give me the younger grades. This did make me a bit dubious.

I was even told by the students that the other English teacher was not as good as me.

Last Friday I was told to visit the principal after my classes finished. I'm not completely stupid and alarm bells rung throughout the day.

I was told I had done an excellent job and was very hard working, but they were firing me to replace me with someone with an English degree. I specifically asked if I had done something wrong? But I was told I had done nothing wrong and I'd been excellent.

I studied business management and I have an English teaching qualification which more than qualifies me to teach English to non native speakers in Cambodia.

It really annoys me as the other teachers don't put nearly as much effort into planning their classes as I do. The principal made a hiring mistake and I'm the one being fired. Most people would just let it slide keep you on, but he does not seem human.

Available_Ad8151 Report

I started this job 6 weeks ago. I loved it. The work was great, the people were great, I was finally making enough money to comfortably survive.

Today I went to work and they laid off four of us.

I have nothing in the works, because I was a new hire and was really happy.

Turns out everyone they hired/laid off were all working on the same client, who had a significantly larger order than usual. So once that order was completed there was no need to keep the 4 of us.

This job knew I left another job for this. I had steady work, and was getting by financially.

Now I don’t even think I qualify for unemployment since I was only working there for 6 weeks. I have absolutely no way of generating income.

This s**t should be illegal. I was just completely screwed over.

That’s all, I just needed to rant into the void. I have no idea what the hell I’m going to do.

jesusthisisapain Report

I got laid off yesterday with no warning, after a 90 day new-hire probationary period. Allegedly I was not meeting expectations, but being routinely told I was doing exactly as I was supposed to. So no notice or opportunity to improve.

Worst part was I really loved this job, and absolutely would have done more if I had any inkling I wasn’t meeting expectations, especially to such a degree my job was at risk.

There’s a big meeting at the office today. I was responsible for ordering lunch. I was the contact for the delivery. Despite putting detailed delivery instructions the guy is having a hard time finding the office I guess.

I don’t work there anymore. I won’t be helping. I was somewhat kind— they asked if I just wanted to cancel it and I said that as I was no longer an employee I was not able to make that decision. Total neutral ground. I wouldn’t have picked up for the delivery service at all but they called me like eight times so I thought I’d at least tell them what was up.

antiwork Report

Out of work for 4 months due to layoff because "the company wasn't doing well" and just saw hiring for my old position.

My last job laid off all the contract workers due to issues at the company (even though last year profits were up 70%). I was less than two weeks from finishing my contract and getting hired on with a raise and my team was already stretched thin. Lo and behold, just found pages of positions on indeed the company is hiring for including the one I used to have.

I'm livid. I feel weird about applying but I've had no luck finding a job and I have all the experience they want since I worked that position.

penswen Report

I'm still processing this because it happened yesterday.

I work on computers at a company that rhymes with "Noogle". To be more specific, I oversee large-scale computer projects. I've been doing this since early 2023.

In February 2024, my department got merged with another, and we got a new manager as well. This "manager" was both new to the company and new to "computer projects".

It took them until late May to define our new job expectations post-merger. My "project manager" role had been turned into "project advisor" to the team lead. A bit strange, but I rolled with it.

Yesterday, I arrived to work as usual. My manager requested a short meeting with me before I went to prep for the daily team meeting.

When I entered that meeting room, HR was there. The manager said, "Unfortunately we have decided to end your employment with the company, effective immediately. Please turn in all company devices along with your badge."

I sat there for a moment and asked "Why?"

His response? "Failure to meet the expectations of your role due to poor performance."

When I tried to get more details, explaining that this all seemed rather sudden, I was told that my performance had been declining over the past 4 months (which was coincidentally when he got hired to manage us post-merger). Of course, this still made no sense but when I asked for clarification, I was shut down with "This decision has already been made."

So I calmly (although maybe out of shock instead) turned in my company devices, my badge, and cleared my desk. After I had taken the boxes out to my car, I sat in that parking lot for a while.

If I was terminated, would that mean that all documentation and software I produced for the team would be terminated too?

Quickly, I pulled up my personal phone and started changing access permissions on everything from "view only" to "edit". It was only after sending a short message to the team lead (who seemed as shocked by everything as me) that my corporate access got disabled.

That drive home was harrowing. I awaited the exit paperwork along with details on any severence packages. While I did eventually receive the exit paperwork, it was a short two page document that only described the fate of my health insurance and 401k.

As of today, I have received nothing else. I'm starting to wonder if I'll even get a severence package.

shadowartist201 Report

I was just laid off today as an engineer because I'm assuming the company I was working for is struggling to make money and is cutting positions they don't deem essential. I assume since I was the newest member I was the one they let go. I was completely blindsided by it and walked into my regular weekly meeting at 3PM only to find my boss and someone from HR telling my I was being let go. The only question I asked was if I was being laid off for performance reasons, to which my (ex-)boss assured me that this had nothing to do with my performance. Whatever, they gave me a severance package and my PTO balance back, and I was already planning to quit since I'm trying to relocate and the company's management and work environment was s**t and becoming more toxic everyday.

The worst part that kills me though is when I was talking to my mom on the phone her first response was "you didn't work hard enough and you took too much vacation so of course your position was the one they terminated first". She lives on the other side of the world and has no idea what my workplace environment is like and how I lack any sort of guidance or help to get what I need done. It sucks even more because she knows my total commute is around 2.5 hours to my company and she still said that straight to me. For context, my mom is the owner of a company right now so she said she was speaking to me from a boss's viewpoint. I grew increasingly upset at her and hung up pretty abruptly after 5 minutes. It's so crazy to me the disconnect the older generation has compared to what our generation goes through. I felt even more like s**t knowing that my own family's first reaction was to assume I'm a lousy worker and that employees aren't entitled to vacation time when first starting at a job, and now the rest of my evening is ruined.

EDIT: Didn't expect to get this much attention. Just some information since I saw some people ask: I started early October last year and had around ~50 hours of PTO left when I was let go. Longest vacation I took was in May, one work week off to honeymoon with my wife. We accrue about 4.5 hours every two weeks.

Thank you everyone for the kind words of encouragement. I will focus on the interviews I do have lined up and will enjoy this time off to spend time with my wife and dogs.

peypeysama Report

I’m still in shock. I think I just need to vent. I told my supervisor hesitantly a couple weeks ago that I was pregnant with my first child (I was about 5 months at the time) and planning to take 12 weeks of maternity leave. I am a therapist with a case load and wanted to give her time to plan for someone to take over my cases while I was gone.

The company I worked for is a large-ish non-profit agency that has a lot of government grants and contracts. Yesterday morning I attempted to log into my email and was unable to. I called my supervisor who was confused and told me she’d talk to her supervisor and get back to me. Last night she sent me a text letting me know there were several other employees this happened to, and to call the front office to get a to get a ticket from IT.

This morning I get a call from our VP, who’s only been working there for about 2 months. I’ve never spoken to him before. He says something to the effect of “I tried to put a meeting on your calendar in Teams, but I was told you couldn’t assess it”. I then spend the next 5 minutes on the phone where him and HR rep recite some bulls**t to me about “comapny restructuring” and “loss of grant funding”. I was blindsided. I’m due in 3 months and desperately need this insurance!!

I worked as a therapist at this company for about two years. I think what is most upsetting is that they just hired three new therapist to our team. If we were lacking money, why lay me off and not a newer person? Why hire people at all? I’m almost positive it’s because I just told my supervisor about a month ago that I was pregnant and planning to take 12 weeks of maternity leave. I asked the HR rep if their reasoning was performance based and she assured me that it was not.

Company’s don’t care about you at all. They don’t care that my family needs health insurance or that this is a huge stressor during my pregnancy. I don’t think I can prove that the lay off was due to my pregnancy, but is there anything I can do? Thanks for reading!

Edit/Update: Hello Everyone. Thank you for your comments and advice. I did not think this post would get so much recognition. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.

I received my separation papers for my severance that claims I was laid off for “economic reasons”. Thanks you to you guys I will not be signing it.

I also spoke to a HR manager at a major hospital in my area and she said the same thing as you guys. To file a claim with the EEOC and contact a lawyer. I started the process yesterday.

I also applied for unemployment and pregnancy Medicaid yesterday as well. I will update you as this plays out. Again I want to say thank you!

Neat_Cancel_4002 Report