So I was at work today and I’m called down to HR. It seems that someone interpreted something I’d said as a threat to the Queen of Evil, my uber-boss. So now I’ve been told to leave for the day while they decide in I have a future at said company. Oh, and they searched my desk and found the paring knife I use to slice apples and peel oranges, so they think I’m going to kill my boss with a 3 inch paring knife from Ikea. I mean heck - if I was going to do it I’d used one of the good Hoffritz knives.
I said that at my last job things were so bad I fantasized about disemboweling my boss, and when it became that bad I knew I had to leave for the sake of my mental health. So somehow that boss has been confused with this boss, who I detest professionally (she’s the worst manager I’ve ever known, and that includes her subordinate, my direct boss, the alcoholic), but like on a one-on-one level (she has dogs and horses). I’ve never been written up, have a excellent work and attendence record, etc.
I just got off the phone with HR. If I “voluntarily” resign, they’ll offer me 3 months severence and 2 months of health insurance to “tide me over until I find something else”. If I don’t volunteer to do this, I’m fired. So now I have two mortgage payments and no job. I don’t know what in the Hell I’m going to do.
Well, for one thing, this isnt “Mindless, Pointless Stuff”- holy cow. Anyway, go ahead and resign and take the severance, duh. At least you got three months! Are you in a field where it takes you forever to find a job? That totally sucks, that you just made a stupid little comment and it was totally taken out of context and you got shit on. But that’s what it’s like in today’s terrorism-obsessed world. I’m inclined to believe that it has to be like that; why just a year ago a student at the University here in Tucson killed 3 instructors. It does happen, and unfortunately you got caught in that net. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll be okay. When I’m in a tight spot, and the worrying starts to get out of control, I just tell myself that I’ll either die or I’ll be okay. For some reason, just remembering that those basically are the only two options makes me feel better.
Take the “voluntary” resignation, collect that severance and be glad you’re out of there. Sounds like they’re not a good lot of people to work for, anyway.
When you consider that your other option is to get fired, and have them tell anyone that calls for references that you threatened to kill someone even if it isn’t true, it is a much better option.
Do up the numbers. If you take the severance you get three months pay and two months medical. If you get fired, do you get unemployment?
Then ask yourself how long it is likely to take to find a comparable position in your field. If it’s less than three months, take the severance. If you aren’t even sure you can find something for a while, figure out which will tide you over better: unemployment or the severance.
Good luck to you. I hope you land on your feet. And soon.
StGermain
I sure don’t want to see you spend or waste any money but it might be worth finding out if they had a legal right to fire you. It would be great if the law is on your side and those bastards have to take you back.
Just a thought.
Coldie, most states in the US are “at will” employment states (erm, I think that’s the right term), in that your boss doesn’t need any real reason to fire you. If you can show that you were discriminated against, you’ve got a case, but almost always (unless you can show that you were framed for something), I think you’re pretty much screwed.
St. Germain, that really sucks! I am so sorry this has happened to you! I can only hope that not only do you land on your feet, but that this opens some kind of door you weren’t even looking for.
That’s exactly right. No reason at all. It is very messed up. And in some cases if they don’t have a reason and they don’t like you, they find a reason to get rid of you. I say take the severance and get on outta there. You were looking when you found that job and you’ll find one again. Keep your head up.
In fact, if you’re in an at-will state, whether they had a perceived reason or not, they probably will not give a stated reason if they do fire you. IANARBAM*, but I think at-will employment is actually a good idea.
Don’t know what state you’re in, but COBRA coverage in CA lasts for 36 months now. Federal requirement is 18. Any employer with a group health plan who has 20 or more employees must extend federal COBRA rights to continued benefits under the plan to all qualified beneficiaries.
Unless your severance agreement states otherwise, you can collect unemployment simultaneously. In fact, if your severance agreement states that by accepting the severance, you forfeit your right to unemployment, you might want to refuse to sign it and insist that they adjust that. You’re entitled to unemployment; your severance might not last you until you get another job in this economy, and you should shame them into changing it, especially given the circumstances under which this arises.
I don’t want to cast any aspersions here, but having been in the management ranks of national firms, I can assure you that if an employee is being terminated “at will”, there will be NO, NONE, ANY, reasons given for it. While “at will” is a questionable law, believe me that there are a million and one lawyers who would be ready to take on a case if there is merit to it.
That being said, it is entirely possible that someone misinterpreted St.Germain’s words, or they may be out to get him/her.
But why throw in all the details of a similar thing at a previous job? I am skeptical. If I am wrong, my fault.
I really do pretty good work. I work in credit and as of last Friday, my accounts were 92% current. That’s really good. The thing I’m worried about is I just bought a farmhouse and haven’t sold my other house yet. Two mortgage payments was tough at the best of times. I may have a buyer lined up for my old house, though. I have about $35K in equity in that house. I may need some of that money soon, besides the fact that the farm needs a central hear and air system installed. I can wait on that for a while if I have to.
Thanks, everyone for the commiseration. You know, if they’d gotten me for excessive internet usage, I could see it, but this was just so ridiculous and unfounded.
Lamar Mundane - I’m not sure what you were questioning. We were standing around shooting the breeze. None of us like the uber-boss, no one. And I said, “At least it’s not like it was at my old job. I literally was fantasizing about disemboweling my boss. That’s why I left - I’ll never let it get that bad again.”
And all that’s true. When it got to the place where I felt it was ruining my mental health, I spoke with my HR department, spoke with a counselor I was referred to by my Employee Assistance Program, and decided it was best for me ifI left. So I did. But that was all at my old job, and although I dislike my uber-boss, I don’t dislike the job and I do it well. I don’t think anyone was out to get me, I think they made a huge mountain out of a molehill and a 3" paring knife.
tesseract - What they said is they’d pay for my insurance for two months. Cobra payments are usually very high. I’ll probably end up having to do without, if I don’t find a job quickly.
So if anyone in Middle Tennessee needs a credit manager who is also a paralegal, please speak up.
Unfortunately, in a world of “postal workers” a comment like this will not likely be taken lightly. Please note that I’m not siding with them, or blaming you, but at your next job I would avoid mentioning any fantasies of violence.
You know, people that repeat things you say to the boss should be neutered / spayed so they don’t reproduce. I have been screwed over by these snitching twits too. Just goes to show you, you have to be REAL careful about what you say to fellow employees, some of them will use ANYTHING they can to get one-up on you.
Damn.
Good luck to you, keep a positive attitude about the world, if you can.
I am sorry to hear you lost your job. I know how tough that is (and I speak form personal experience. I lost mine through layoffs 5 months ago, and have been looking ever since).
And yes, you are right…the COBRA is expensive (mine would have been $320 a month for just me, and I get a whopping $360 a week unemployment). If you take severance and collect unemployment, they deduct the severance from your unemployment (terrific, huh?). The slight benefit to that is that you will not exhaust your unemployment “bank”, or balance as quickly.
I refused to sign my severance agreement because I was being sexually harassed by my boss (very publicly, I might add). By signing the damn thing, I would have been agreeing in writing to waive any right I had to sue the company or it’s representatives for any reason…ever. Isn’t that special? And yes, I believe that my being selected for layoff had something to do with me not putting up with his crap.
But I digress… I can’t say how sorry I am that this has happened to you. Corporate America seems to use it’s employees for toilet paper nowdays. Take what you can get from the jerks, and find someplace better. I wish you a lot of luck!
