Letting go of someone when they are no longer needed might be one of the trickiest things an employer has to do. While this decision may be based on substantial reasoning, they still have to think about how to sensibly deliver the message and how it can affect the employee.
However, when this worker was announced redundant, all their boss could do was imagine how he would replace them with a close friend of his. Realizing this, the employee asked for redundancy, which he gladly accepted, not fully knowing what he had signed up for.
Scroll down to find the full story and a brief chat with the author of this story, who kindly agreed to tell us more about it.
Being let go from your job isn’t the most pleasant experience
Image credits: voronaman111 / envato (not the actual photo)
However, this employee was able to outsmart their boss and walk out with a new job and $200k
Image credits: artemp3 / envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Tazwegian63
The employee believes that the boss didn’t learn anything from losing an important employee and costing the business more than $200k
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)
Redundancy often happens when there’s no longer a need for a particular position that an employee is filling. This means that there’s no work or not enough of it to maintain the role. The business may be downsizing, downturning, shutting down a project, or the work is already done by other team members.
An essential part of this process is impersonality. Lavelle Partners, a national law firm, explains that the position should be no longer needed and not the member of staff personally. “If an employee who has been made redundant is replaced, this would suggest an invalid redundancy,” the organization claims.
Indeed, in the case of this redditor, the redundancy wasn’t genuine, as the existing position was deceivingly portrayed as terminated when, in reality, the boss was just trying to replace the worker with his friend.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the story, who agreed to have a brief chat about it. They told us that they came across a similar story online that finally inspired them to share their own.
When asked if they believe the boss learned something from losing an important employee and costing the business more than $200k, they said, “I don’t think he learned anything, to be honest.” Hearing this is unfortunate, knowing that such behavior will further contribute to a toxic workplace environment for those who remain there.
Redditor’s advice to people who might find themselves in a similar situation under new management was to be prepared with an exit strategy. “Apply for other jobs; you don’t have to take an offer, but it gives you options.”
During redundancy, employees should be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness
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Any employee who has worked for the company for more than two years is entitled to statutory redundancy pay. This depends on the length of their service and any other payments, like unused PTO or settlement for short notice.
If it turns out that the team member is eligible to receive such payment, the amount is calculated based on the years they’ve worked for the company and their age. However, the maximum number of years to receive compensation is twenty.
The team from the David Morris law firm reminds employers that during this process, everyone should be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness. How redundancy is handled can have a great impact on a person’s ability to cope with the situation.
Coming to terms with such news can take a while for some people, especially when going through feelings of rejection and low self-worth. Suddenly having to figure out the next steps and finding a new job can also greatly affect the psychological well-being of an employee.
Therefore, an employer should immediately provide ongoing support, whether that means directing them to counselling or allocating some time to outline the factors leading to their letting go, ensuring that their contributions to the company are appreciated, and emphasizing that this has nothing to do with them personally.
People in the comments sympathized with the author and even shared similar stories
