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How do you lay somebody off?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Inky_Wretch, Oct 31, 2008.

Page 3 of 4
  1. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    I worked for a publisher who did that with a few new mothers and such. Go on maternity leave ... and not have a job waiting for them. Classy.
     
    Sam Mills 51, Nov 2, 2008
    #25
  2. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    It's OK to feel ashamed from that point forward, though, if you continue to work for such a miserable place or person and don't do everything in your power to either change the culture, improve the economics of the place or find a job elsewhere.

    By continuing to work for the really lousy bosses and businessmen, we are enablers. I'm not saying "quit today." I'm saying, "find a new job today and quit tomorrow." (Or, given the economy, find a new job next year and quit next year-plus-one day.)
     
    Joe Williams, Nov 2, 2008
    #26
  3. newgrad2008

    newgrad2008 New Member

    I'm pretty sure that is illegal. They have to have something for you, at either the same or greater pay/responsibility when you get back.
     
    newgrad2008, Nov 2, 2008
    #27
  4. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    He's the publisher in Selma, now. He got what was coming to him.
     
    three_bags_full, Nov 2, 2008
    #28
  5. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    Not if the employer can show all like positions are being eliminated.
     
    fishwrapper, Nov 2, 2008
    #29
  6. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    You know, I've worked with so many truly nice and admirable people in this business in the past 15 years that I forget how many complete idiots and assholes I met on the way up.
     
    SF_Express, Nov 2, 2008
    #30
  7. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    Wise words.
     
    fishwrapper, Nov 2, 2008
    #31
  8. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Strictly answering the thread question: do it on a Tuesday morning. I wrote a story about how to handle layoffs/firings and talked to a lot of HR professionals and they said timing is crucial. Don't do it on a Friday and make the former employee stew over a weekend. Don't do it on a Monday, if possible, 'cause Mondays suck anyway. Mornings are better than afternoon 'cause if the employee senses it coming, why make them sit nervously all day? The consensus was Tuesday morning, as it gives someone almost a full work week to start focusing on getting something else.
     
    playthrough, Nov 2, 2008
    #32
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    That advice makes sense, Playthrough.

    I have had to fire someone once. It was the only thing I have ever done, in which I was an actual employee of a company, rather than on contract or doing something entrepreneurial. I have people who work for me as independent contractors now, so I never really have to fire anyone. If work gets slow, or we stop doing something someone was working on, it's much easier to just say, "Nothing right now. You'll hear from me when we have stuff." I work with mostly the same people, and I know they are good, so it is never a matter of blowing anyone off because they did crummy work.

    When I fired someone, I was acting as publisher of a magazine (I had the title, but I was no publisher). The real publisher was a retired person who had helped found the company. I was the editor of this magazine, but because of circumstances, it worked best if I sort of oversaw everything, so I was made editor and publisher, even though I involved myself as little as possible with ad sales--just paying attention to what they were doing, but really just working on editorial, photo shoots, stuff like that.

    It was all fine and dandy being a faux publisher until we had to fire an ad sales person. I agreed he had to go, but I sure as hell didn't want to fire anyone. He was a nice guy, just young, a little overmatched by the job and didn't really stand a chance even if he was better at selling ads. So he was dead weight. I guess I let them put it off as long as possible, but you can only carry dead weight so long, so we decided to fire him. I wanted no part of it, but I decided it would be uncool if I had someone else fire him and I wasn't there to look him in the eye. So I did it. It was one of the shittiest things I have ever had to take part in. He was actually really cool about it, and I stay in touch with him, but I still felt like crying, even though I knew he knew this wasn't the job for him and he would do better to find something else. I just hated that feeling of yanking someone's job from them and making them feel like shit.
     
    The Big Ragu, Nov 2, 2008
    #33
  10. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    Semantics.
    I've been in the room ever day of the week, nearly every hour of the day.
    I don't remember one person saying, "You know, thanks for doing this Tuesday morning. This is much better than if you had done it Thursday after lunch."
    That is HR search for relevancy and meaning during awful times.
     
    fishwrapper, Nov 2, 2008
    #34
  11. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    I just went through this a month ago. My SE called me into the office, and a moment later the ME came in and closed the door behind him. I immediately said: "Are you firing me?" Sort of half-kidding. The ME said "No, but you're not going to like it." Then he came out pretty quickly and told me that my position was being eliminated. He didn't dance around the issue. He did say that I had done a great job and it was no way a reflection on my work, but simply the economy. I appreciated that. I think I also helped them by not making a big stink about it, because I had pretty much expected that I'd be having this talk eventually.

    He discussed the severance and insurance and all that stuff. Then the ME left and me and the SE chatted, and he told me how crappy it was and how he was sorry that it had to come to this. He said he'd be happy to help in whatever way he could for me to get another job.

    Overall, I think they handled it about as well as I could have hoped, from the way they actually broke the news to the package they gave me.

    On another topic from this thread, my wife was also laid off while on maternity leave. It turned out to be a blessing for us, because she didn't make enough money at her old job to really justify having her be a working mom anyway, so we ended up collecting unemployment for her for longer than she would have been paid on maternity leave.

    That was nine years ago and she still doesn't have a job, but now that I've lost mine I'm going to tell her to get her lazy butt out there and do something :)
     
    BB Bobcat, Nov 2, 2008
    #35
  12. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    Be up front. Be honest. Be human.
     
    forever_town, Nov 2, 2008
    #36
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