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I was told I was being fired and then an armed security guard came to the door and escorted me all over the office so everyone could see.
First to the Office Manager to drop off my keys and ID.
Then to payroll to pick up my final check (No Severance or sick leave or vacation payout)
Then to HR for my Exit Interview
Then finally to my office to clean out my desk
I was not allowed to say anything to anyone and when asked the security guard told them I was terminated and not to talk to anyone.
The reason for my termination? I went to senior management to complain about my boss who was wreaking the function. (He was eventually promoted after I left)
I wasn't fired for misconduct or anything like that, but I was laid off a few years ago. The managing partner came by my desk and told me to come to the conference room. The HR lady was already in there, and he told me they were letting me go. It was the third week of the month and they told me I could continue coming to work until the end of the month if I wanted. If not, I could leave and they would still pay me for that time.
I showed up the next day to pick up my stuff and then I left. That's all.
It varied. One did the cloak and dagger approach, called into the bosss office and told to get the hell out. A better departure at another company where they threw me a goodbye party. And I was a contract employee. A couple where I was about to leave as soon as I found another position, but they beat me to it. I could have said, "you can't fire me, I quit!" but resisted the temptation.
I resigned with notice, but the HR ''beotch'' and Manager ''beotch'' came to my desk the next day at 10 minutes to quitting time and told me to pack up, turn over my name tag, and then they escorted me to the parking lot like a criminal.
My immediate supervisor stood in the corner of the cube next to mine, gutless face turned to the wall, hearing but not watching this scene unfold.
I think a distinction needs to be made between getting fired - losing your job for something you did - and getting laid off - from a company cutting back, closing, etc.
First time, I knew something was up, they had laid off another co-worker 3 months before me and I realized I was the only one not hired by my boss or her boss (had been there longer than either of them), also my boss who I had a quite pleasant working relationship with had changed, nothing you could put your finger on though. Although business had gotten quiet, I might have unknowingly (at the time) had a hand in it, I had been there for almost 9 years and was maybe too comfortable, had told my boss about a co-worker (but did not name a name) who didn't do anything all day. Looking back now, <face slap> so a Thursday about 2ish, she came to my desk and asked if I could come to her office. I knew! I walk in, closed the door and it was my boss, her boss and the HR Manager. Got the song and dance about a reduction in business, have to cut the budget, blah, blah, blah. I did get severance pay, unpaid vacation pay and since my company taught certain classes I was able to get 6 months of training for free. Course I had to take it there, but my first day back for the class I walked back into the offices with a huge HI and smile on my face. They took my job, but they would never know how I felt about it. Oh the co-worker I tried to tell my boss about got fired about a month later for the exact reasons I was trying to tell them about.
Get back to my desk, and the HR asst was already there with boxes (not her fault), we packed up my stuff, my boss and her boss walked me to my car IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE OFFICE and actually tried to hug me goodbye!! I slipped out and said goodbye and got in my car. They did tell me they wouldn't challenge my unemployment and they didn't.
Second time, my lead and I were actually going to change positions/titles, she was tired of the BS and I wanted her job. I get called into HR and my boss is there with the HR manager. My boss was crying. Budget cut, last person hired at full time hours, blah, blah, blah. Paid for the rest of the week, vacation and severance. Was told I was rehirable but no open positions. No boxes, packed up my own stuff and went unassisted to my car. My now ex-boss called me later to apologize -- we are still friends. Had to sign a form that I wouldn't sue and bring it back. My now former lead was taking me to lunch the day I dropped off the form and was told about another position available at another location but it would be a promotion. Took it, worked it for a year, hated almost every second, applied for another promotion at another location, got it, been there now 3 1/2 years and love it!
I went about my job at the law firm as usual that day. The other secretary (the Queen Bee who did not like me) was off that day. In hindsight, I do not think that was a coincidence. It was two days before Thanksgiving and I was concentrating on getting things caught up as I was to be taking one of my vacation days the following day to prolong the holiday weekend. We (DH and I) were leaving on a trip across state right after work to spend Thanksgiving with my mother.
At 4:00 p.m. (I was to leave at 5:00), I was called in to the conference room, told I was terminated (reason being DH called the office too many times), was given a notice that we were not to set foot on the premises henceforth, given my final check, and a box to clean out my desk in the next hour. DH's phone calls occurred on paydays. We're not wealthy - we had bills that came due on my payday. For 9 years I'd been given my check AT NOON on payday so I could do my banking during lunch. Then the last year I had to remind them to pay me before the end of the day and they got very irritated about it. Their treatment toward me that last year should have been very telling - they'd cut my hours to part time, changed my status from salary to hourly, and took away most of my vacation and all of my paid holidays. I was ostracized and picked on.
I handed in my key, but that was unnecessary as at that moment someone came to change the locks. The two partners left without saying goodbye to me. One was my direct boss who had been a good friend - but he'd recently gotten distant, overcritical, and sometimes nasty toward me toward the end.
I'd worked for them for ten years - I had always gotten good performance reviews and a yearly raise. The old coworkers I'd worked with for many years - and who had been my good friends - left, and the two new staff members (a law associate and a secretary) were hired who did not like me. The office environment became toxic.
Getting fired was a shock, but the way I was treated by bosses whom I'd always been fond of was like a slap in the face.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 10-03-2013 at 03:46 AM..
My poor department manager was forced to tell 20 people they were being let go on the same day. The company made him read a letter to each discharged employee which was about a page long. You could tell it was killing him to do it.
I knew why I was called to his office. I had been thinking about quitting for over a year before the shutdown of my division so I started out the meeting by telling him that he shouldn't sweat doing my meeting as he was doing me a favor. I told him I had been thinking about leaving anyways and the severance package was just icing on the cake. He seemed relieved to hear that ad it made the meeting go a lot better.
I had no idea mine was coming. I had recently received two raises, but became suspicious as the boss had recently brought in a third guy, but there was only enough work for two full timers most of the time. Not long after he finished training, I received a call from the agency stating the termination was effective immediately.
Since my office is in Connecticut, I only had to be up there 2 days/week. Usually Monday and Wednesday - this was a Friday.
I ran to lunch at the local deli. Double parked the car, glanced at my BlackBerry that was in the front seat and said to myself "nobody will call within 3 minutes", and proceeded to run in for my sandwich. I got in the car and I saw I had one missed call with a voice mail. I played it and it was my boss. The call went like this...
"This is Vince, um, this isn't a pleasant phone call, so call me when you can, I want to do this quickly and effectively". I knew it was coming and I called him right away. He said executive management is scaling back, and all remote people (two of us) were being let go. "Don't come up to CT on Monday as your layoff is effective immediately". I was stunned. My yearly review was glowing, I was due for a nice raise in a matter of weeks.
I just recently found out I was replaced with his neighbors kid making half of what I was, but my reliable source said he is about to get canned for messing up on a daily basis.
What a spineless turd that guy is. I hope he suffers for the rest of his pathetic life.
My layoff back in March was very similar. Boss called me at 6AM. I missed the call but called him back right away. We worked from home or travelled most of the time so calling me wasn't all that unusual. Our annual raises were also due, and I had received nothing but good feedback and evals, so I thought that might be why he called. Instead it was to tell me over the phone I was being laid off due to a reorg. Completely cold and heartless from a guy who 9 months earlier had recruited me to relo my family 2500 miles away to a state where we had no family. From a guy I had shared a drink and condolences with when his adult daughter had passed away just a few months prior. Not so much as an "I'm sorry to have to tell you..." Just, "you're computer access is terminated immediately", "you're final check will arrive tomorrow along with a separation letter" and he didn't even know, or seem to care, what the correct details around my final check, severance, or benefits would be. I normally wouldn't expect much from a boss (although an expression of condolence, even a simple "I regret to inform you" to me seems just common decency) in this situation, but due to what I had believed our prior relationship was I was actually hurt. Time has passed, I got a better job within a month and so that worked out OK. While I understood he may have been limited in what he could say on that actual call, I really expected to hear from him afterward, if nothing else to at least get a message like "I'm glad to see things worked out for you" when I got the new job. Not a word. This particularly surprises me because the type of position he has and the company he works for depends heavily on networking and industry contacts, and I was (and I am again) a valuable one to both him and his employer. I'm not sorry I no longer work for that company, but I was pretty hurt by how the boss handled it.
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I told him I had been thinking about leaving anyways and the severance package was just icing on the cake. He seemed relieved to hear that ad it made the meeting go a lot better.
