this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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My friend is a customer service rep who is ready to retire. Her company is talking about layoffs with 13+ weeks of severance, but when she asked (anonymously) if they were accepting volunteers, they said no. In case she's not one of the ones told to clean out her desk, what are the ways she could get terminated while preserving her ability to claim unemployment (which would equal the 13 weeks of severance)?

UPDATE: She took my advice and saw her doctor. He agreed that she's experiencing a job-related stress injury, set her up with a Disability claim, and referred her for psychiatric counseling.

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[–] [email protected] 133 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Talk about starting a union?

[–] [email protected] 52 points 10 months ago

And then you can sue.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This sounds promising. Just have to find what union would represent customer service reps.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

That only works in the US. At my place they would aks if this new union is registered, so that they can help employees pay the union contributions tax-free.

[–] [email protected] 88 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ask for a raise. Tell them there's no retirement plans because of inflation now, and she can see herself staying there another 10 years.

They might not lay her off because they know she'll retire soon anyways. Increase her cost of employment so it's no longer cost effective to just wait it out.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mentioned asking for a raise, but she countered that they would want her to jump ship.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 10 months ago

Start documenting all their OSHA violations lol.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Easy. Email everyone in the company how much she makes.
Start an email chain about wages.
Open the handbook and start using/abusing the loopholes while pointing them out.

And most importantly; do as little as possible while maintaining the job requirements as laid out in the listing.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago

just talk about unions in non union job and you will be gone fast

[–] [email protected] 40 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Does lemmy have an unethical life pro tips community yet? You'd probably get better results if we did.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Funny thing is I see nothing unethical in this request. Companies have no ethics that are not enforced by laws, so it is not unethical for employees to adopt the same behaviour.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

What's unethical is the unemployment process.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

We do, I just don't know how to link to communities in lemmy.

Edit: Did this do anything?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

Works for me!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Thanks for the effort!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

I really don't think there's anything unethical about this. They're going to be laying people off anyway; they may as well lay off someone it will hurt less.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Assuming this is in the US, be sure of your state’s unemployment laws. A lot of states say you are ineligible for unemployment if you are fired for cause, like attendance issues or failure to perform work duties.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It’s important to note that, barring something egregious, single instances don’t meet the with cause definition.

There has to be documented history that the issue was raised with you and addressed (verbal warnings, write ups etc.)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That depends on the state, OP’s friend should check before trying anything.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No, it doesn’t. A single occurrence of being late, or the first instance of being talked to about job performance does not meet the requirement of cause to deny you unemployment benefits.

An employer has to demonstrate repeated occurrences with documentation to be able to justify denying unemployment. Without that they can contest your claim but as soon as you appeal it they will be overruled unless they can show a repeated pattern with corrective action documentation.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

This varies by location. I've been through it on both sides in a few states, and when working with an employment lawyer one of the most crucial things he said was to make sure the filing was in the beneficial state.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Also worth noting that most companies prefer to treat any given firing as "without cause" because stating a reason is usually a net-loss in terms of legal exposure.

Exceptions to the rule include, but are not limited to:

  • States which make it expensive/slow to fire without cause (because money)
  • Union jobs (because union)
  • Retaliative firings (because worker's rights)
  • Prejudiced firings (because civil rights)

How does one tell if they're on the road to a with-cause termination? Simple: documentation. If you're suddenly being put under a microscope it might indicate that a premeditated f-bomb is hiding around the corner.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Exactly! Documentation is the best indicator, usually escalating from verbal, to written and then to final. A PIP, performance improvement plan, is another good indicator you’re on the block.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

For a call center you just have to not meet stats enough months in a row and they will fire you . I once had a job selling internet, tv and phone bundles . I consistently had top sales but got let go because I never always offered every single option I could to try and nickel and dime the customer. With extra fees for things they didn't need .

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

She's already been trying this. Takes her time looking up solutions, and then defends her long call times by saying she's being thorough. The layoffs should be any time now, so we'll see if that worked soon enough.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Her company is talking about layoffs with 13+ weeks of severance

How about talking about this topic everyday, to everybody, all day long?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

The employees already do that. It's public knowledge, and not something the company is trying to hide.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Microwave some fish in the break room and leave the door to the room open.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago

Calm down Satan.

I worked at a massage school and was running the student clinic early on a Saturday morning. About 8:30am a student microwaved some fish for breakfast. We got to smell that shit most of the day.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (1 children)

automate her job. build a script that can do the job, and train her boss to use it. now she's redundant.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

How about: Use AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIII

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

Look up employment lawyers on the work pc.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

Thank you all for the suggestions! One that I mentioned to her is to ask her doctor if her recent health issues could be related to the fact she gets stressed dealing with corporate customers, who can be very demanding. It's an increasing proportion of her job that is not part of her original job description (actually the reason she wants to quit). Let it slip in the employee chat system that she's seeing a doctor about workplace stress induced illness. Management will see it as a prelude to a workplace disability claim and want her out.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Get a doctor's appoint on a Saturday, get approved for PTO that day, and then refuse to come in when they call you asking you to come to work while on your way to your doctor appointment.

Happened to me.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago

Apparently all you have to do is get photographed flipping off the presidential motorcade, and then tell HR about it.