Basically I have been told that on 9/1 I will be laid off. Between now and then I need to train my replacement (from an Indian outsourcing company - I am a Systems Analyst). While I am not thrilled at the idea, at least it gives me three more months of salary (and my severance depends on my cooperation). I am just curious if anyone has any stories about their similar experience.
My dad’s company was sold, and the new owners brought in some new workers and had my father train them. Then, they laid off my father without notice. They could employ three new workers with the money they were paying my father.
After over 20 years with the company, he was let go with practically no notice. No severance or retirement. He died a year later since he had no insurance to cover his medical complications.
Sorry ethelbert, that sucks.
Your employers are idiots who would have been out of business soon anyway. You should be thankful that they are paying your salary for 3 months while you seek a new job. Do the minimal amount of work for the next 3 months, but don’t do anything malicious or give them grounds for firing you early.
If this didn’t sound like a really stupid move by your employer, I might say that you should do your best for the next 3 months to see if the company will keep you on in some other position, or at least give you a good recommendation. This sounds like a move by a company to fire people to save money and expect them to cooperate in that effort. Unless the situation is different, you probably don’t want a recommendation from them or a different position there. OTOH, the economy still sucks, and finding new work may be difficult, so you may want to be cooperative just in case it benefits you.
Best bet, put all your resources into finding a new job immediately, and quit without notice as soon as you have one. If you can afford it, sue your former employer, just to make their lives difficult.
What’s lead you to this conclusion?
“We’re going to lay you off in three months, and you have to train your replacement in the meantime.”
Do you have this in writing? Keep a log book, write down exactly everything you do in the time you have left in the company. That way you have a record just in case.
I have a gut feeling about this whole arrangement, and I’m sorry to say it’s not a good one. CYA.
I sort of expect your employer to offer you a “permanent” job but at a greatly reduced salary. Just a feeling I have.
Severial years ago I in somewhat the same position. Contract with the engineering service company was canceled. Required a 30 day notice. The owners of the buildings were going to bring in non union semi skilled workers in our place. If they wanted to know anything about the plant I would answer questions but I did not offer anything without them asking first.
As an example on one of my last days there the new chief saw me working on repinning a lock set. He wanted to know if I had a file with the key system in it. I answered yes. But he did not ask where the file was, so I do not know if he found it or not after I left.
Any of the files that I deleveloped at home to use at work I deleted from the server at the office. Sadly I had started to developed the spread sheet for the key system at home but finished it at work or I would have deleted it to.
I must be an idiot. I can see how this would lead to lower productivity than if the person wasn’t laid off. However, a notice period is often required; paying someone to work during that notice period can be preferable to giving money in lieu of a notice period and getting no work for it.
Do you have this severance agreement in writing? Sounds like a lie to me.
As soon as you have another job lined up, stop going in to work.
I hate to rain odn some of y’alls parade, but in the US, if he has a notice he’s getting laid off, and a severance agreement in place. should the OP leave early he gets no severance pay because the agreement was breached.
If he leaves because he got a better job, well, he’s ahead anyway, but otherwise it’s in his best interest to tough out a sucky situation.
Some here are questioning whether the severance pay will be given at all.
nm
Unfortunately, this is very common. While it does suck, you probably don’t have a choice.
As others say, answer questions, but don’t go out of your way to help.
Then use the extra time to look for a job.
I was in a situation a couple years ago where I was given the duties of a guy who was to be laid off and in which he was instructed to carry out a month-long handover. I thought it was a bizarre and counterproductive way to do things, and once he had left, it gradually became clear that he had left one or two ‘going away presents’ that took a couple months to straighten out.
Make sure the severance agreement is in writing.
I had a similar thing happen to me about ten years ago. There were many, many personal power plays going on at the time. I agreed to work an additional six weeks to train someone else in the part of my job that would continue at our office. What the company didn’t know though is that she was job hunting.
The day after I was let go, I got on a plane to go wine-tasting in Sonoma. My ‘successor’ left two weeks after I did and went back to her old company. Our boss, who was hired to let us go (though he didn’t know that was going to be his job) quit to “spend time at home with his baby” and went on to get a good job someplace else.
Thanks for providing that response. I thought it was apparent from reading the thread title alone.
If you wanted to lay someone off and have a trained replacement, how would you go about it?