At the federal level, civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, gender, or disability may apply to lifestyle discrimination. This includes age and disability bias, as well as gender and race discrimination. Several groups have been targeted by employers and subjected to discriminatory practices, both on the job and in society. The question is whether the employer should trump the employee’s privacy interests or if society should intervene and if so, legal mechanisms should be implemented.
The broadest protection against lifestyle discrimination is found in the states of California, Colorado, New York, and North Dakota, which prohibit discrimination based on a lawful activity by an employee. Federal anti-discrimination laws protect employee characteristics such as race, color, and national origin. Discrimination in the workplace occurs when an employer discriminates against an employee in relation to work-related decisions, including appearance discrimination.
Employees are beginning to assert rights to privacy under certain states’ “lifestyle discrimination statutes”, which purport to be a situation where a certain form of off-duty behavior is legal but the employer has a legitimate reason for prohibiting it. Two states have already passed comprehensive laws against lifestyle discrimination, and 21 other states have laws that provide partial protection.
Unlawful discrimination happens when an employer treats an employee less favorably than other staff on the basis of one or more protected factors. Employee monitoring and evaluation practices such as surveillance, drug testing, and lifestyle discrimination are legal in the workplace, but the extent of these protections depends on the specific circumstances and the extent to which employers can effectively address the issue.
📹 Exposing Discrimination and Harassment in Workplaces
Uncovering hidden workplace discrimination and harassment. Expert insights on racial and ethnic bias. Real-life stories, legal …
How discrimination can occur in the workplace?
Discrimination occurs when an employer treats one employee less favorably than others, such as female employees being paid less or minority ethnic employees being denied training opportunities. Laws against certain types of discrimination, known as “unlawful discrimination”, exist. If an employee is treated less favorably for an unlawful reason, they may take action. However, if the employer treats an employee unfairly for any other reason, it is not considered unlawful discrimination.
What is discrimination with one example?
Discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of individuals by an employer, which can be legal or unlawful. It can include pay disparities, discrimination based on gender, or discrimination based on ethnicity. Some types of discrimination, such as female pay or training opportunities, are considered unlawful. However, there are specific laws against certain types of discrimination, known as “unlawful discrimination”.
If an employer treats an employee unfairly for an unlawful reason, they may be able to take action. If the employer treats an employee unfairly for any other reason, it is not considered unlawful discrimination.
What is discrimination in the workplace ethics?
Workplace discrimination refers to the unjust treatment of individuals based on certain prejudices, such as gender, sexuality, race, religion, pregnancy, maternity, or disability. It can occur when an employee is treated less favorably due to their unique characteristics, such as being turned down due to family planning. Direct discrimination can also occur when an employee is paid less than others for no good reason, redundancy is selected based on protected characteristics, reasonable adjustments are not made for disabled workers, or allegations of discrimination are dismissed.
Indirect discrimination occurs when certain rules or regulations disadvantage certain staff members, such as insisting on working Sundays, which could be seen as discrimination against Christians who consider it a day of worship.
What is an example of discrimination by perception in the workplace?
Perceptive discrimination may occur when staff members decline to supervise a student or an employer withholds a promotion from a staff member on the basis of their perceived disability.
What is an example of direct discrimination in the workplace?
Direct discrimination is when an employer rejects an application due to a protected characteristic, such as sex, based on the employer’s belief that women possess better technical skills and customer credibility. This type of discrimination can be allowed with “ordinary” justification, but only in certain situations related to age and disability, and is only allowed if there is a good business reason.
What is the meaning of discrimination in life?
Discrimination can be defined as the unfair or prejudicial treatment of individuals or groups based on factors such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Discrimination is a pervasive phenomenon, yet the underlying causes are intricate and multifaceted. A comprehensive understanding of the root causes of discrimination is essential for effectively addressing this complex and multifaceted issue.
What are the 7 types of discrimination in the workplace?
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended, protects individuals over 40 years of age from employment discrimination based on age. This act prohibits discrimination against a person based on their age in any employment terms, conditions, or privileges. Other types of discrimination include disability discrimination, sexual orientation, status as a parent, religious discrimination, national origin, pregnancy, sexual harassment, race, color, and sex, and reprisal/retaliation. This law ensures equal treatment and protection for all employees.
What is discrimination in law?
Discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment or violation of a person’s dignity, often based on one of seven grounds: sex, transgender identity, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or age. The law prohibits six forms of discrimination: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, inadequate accessibility, harassment, sexual harassment, and instructions to discriminate.
What are signs of discrimination in the workplace?
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination based on specific protected characteristics for businesses with five or more employees. These protected traits include race, color, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, sex, gender identity, religious creed, sexual orientation, marital status, and military/veteran status. Unequal treatment, biased or offensive comments, lack of diversity, retaliation for reporting concerns, failure to provide reasonable accommodations, inconsistent policy application, and preferential treatment are all red flags of potential discrimination.
Why is discrimination in the workplace an issue?
Discrimination in the workplace can lead to negative effects on employees and the overall performance of a business. When employees feel unjustly treated, they may develop resentment towards management and other employees who benefit from the discrimination. This negative attitude can affect performance, leading to missed deadlines, sick leave, or quitting. If employees are valued as individuals, they may take pride in their work and care about the company’s reputation.
Discrimination in Texas workplaces can have negative effects on employees and the company as a whole. It may be beneficial for affected workers to seek legal representation, whether it’s due to race, religion, gender, or other factors.
What is the lifestyle discrimination?
In recent times, there has been a notable increase in the number of employers who are reluctant to hire individuals whose personal habits and lifestyle choices are deemed to be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of their employees. In some instances, current employees who are unable to adapt to the demands of a new company are also dismissed. Those who smoke and are overweight are the most common victims of this trend.
📹 Are You Being Quiet Fired?Signs Your Company Is Hoping You Quit Your Job!
Are You Being Quiet Fired? Signs Your Company Is Hoping You Quit Your Job! You’ve heard about quiet quitting. But what about …
This happened to me two weeks ago. I resigned after a verbal cue from my supervisor questioning my productivity (I’m an internal recruiter). My last day will be this Friday and will start my next job next week. Not only did my salary increased significantly, I also got additional bonuses based on my new contract. Always look after yourself more than the company you are working for.
I know someone who was with a company 25 years and they did not want to pay the full pension she was entitled to so they cut her hours to part time thinking she would quit. When she didn’t they had her down to one day a week and finally two days a month. They ended up firing her, she sued for unemployment and discrimination and won – she had all dates and events documented.
I’ve seen all kinds of things. The funniest situation I’ve seen is when they are really hard on you and unfair to you, so you’ll quit. Then later on you pop back up working in a different department that affects your old department. It never crossed those people’s minds that another department might want you when they were treating you poorly. So, the look on their faces when you come walking in representing a different department is priceless. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Each time I felt “shunned,” “ignored,” or “passed up,” I sent an email to HR (never a reply) – so when I resigned, I applied for unemployment. My employer contested it saying it was a voluntary separation- I submitted copies of all my emails with a narrative of the situation and was awarded unemployment benefits.
I’m late in my career but learned some things early. Always keep your resume current. Stay in touch with people you’d use as references. Even if you’re not looking for another job have an interview at another company at least once a year to stay sharp, if you get a new boss it’s like getting a new job that you didn’t get to vet and if you notice red flags start looking immediately. Never stay in a role for more than five years or in a bad company for more than two years.
I had a boss who did everything in her power to get rid of me. Every Monday I would get a meeting scheduled for Friday without a reason put in. One Monday, she put a meeting scheduled for Friday. I accepted it and wrote I had some concerns of office bullying and the on going harassment and hostile work environment. The Friday meeting was quickly changed to Tuesday. I declined it and said I would prefer to speak about this as scheduled for Friday. The moral of this story: PUT IT IN WRITING BY EMAIL! IT IS TIME STAMPED AND ITS A PAPER TRAIL. THAT SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF THEM!
I experienced this at a famous US American corporation. Luckily I had the stamina to stick (and a good lawyer). Eventually they fired me for no reason after playing games with me for years. I dragged them to court and sued them for wrongful termination. They had to pay a six-figure severance pay to me.
People, if they try this with you, just quit and find a new job. As much as i like the idea of documenting everything and suing, i believe that our mental peace and self respect are the most important things! And i would let karma do its job and move on and find my happiness elsewhere. I know its easier said than done, but believe me, toxic bosses have to live with themselves and they are going to destroy themselves eventually 😂
My wife just quit her job after 17+ years, several promotions, and solid performance reviews. New management structure came in, then the micromanagement began, conflicting procedures being thrown at her….then one day a meeting with HR where she was offered 3 options: 1 – PIP (if not completed successfully: termination), 2 – transferring internally (with a scarlet letter PIP, wasn’t gonna happen), 3 – or quitting with a severance. She wanted to stay, but the PIP contained factual inaccuracies (lies) and she didn’t trust her leadership to do right by her if she tried to tough it out. Her friend and teammate with 16 years experience had the same thing happen to her a month prior. Just prior to this happening, the team posted 2 new openings. These slimeballs knew exactly what they were doing. Really soured me to the people running that place. Nobody has the balls anymore to say someone isn’t in their plans. They play these stupid games that have real consequences to peoples lives.
This happened to a co worker who I worked for once in the same department. She was being quiet fired. The next thing I saw her doing on the company computer was looking for, and applying for other jobs all on the time clock, and company time. They did not give her any work to do so she used that time to look for a way out. When another job did come to her, she just got up and left. As she left, she told the manager where he could stick his job, and said she now has another one. As for the rest of us we could not stop laughing. Six months later, we also found other jobs too.
Another major one in relation to ‘constructive discharge’ is when your hours are getting reduced – esp if your a casual and or taken off the roster completely. Topic aside, when it comes to job adverts and they state ‘able to take constructive criticism’ is a red flag. Usually indicates the boss is overly pedantic, highly critical, micromanaging and or bullying.
Everyone in my position got a $2-3 hr raise except me. I got .25$. Since I was at the job the longest, they just got raises to my level and they made that the entry level for that job. It was the nail in the coffin for me to leave the state. A few months later, I left a resignation letter along with my badge on HR’s desk. My note stated that since I was deemed entry level, the customary two weeks notice was not necessary. They should be able to hire someone off the street. I don’t know exactly what happened but the HR head was fired in three days and my boss was demoted with in a week.
This happened to me. I was working as a manager at a very large company. After about a year, I started getting all the “signs” that I wouldn’t be around long. I turned in my 2-week notice and suddenly my boss wouldn’t speak with me . She was always somewhere else and avoided me. Weird. On my last day she called me into her office and told me she absolutely HATED the company, hated her job and didn’t speak with me because she was jealous that I could just walk away from this Hell Hole company and leave her. I was polite and professional. I thanked her, turned in my company property and quietly slipped out the back door never to return.
I live in EU and we had once a manager openly say “Everybody’s job is safe. We can’t fire people anyway due to regulations”, made a pause and smiled and then said “Well, we have our own ways, we can give people s**t jobs to do and they’ll leave on their own” and then gave an example of a guy that recently left because they did that to him.
I got placed on a PIP by a VP boss who hated me. After I received it, I already knew my days were numbered but a set of miracles happened. First, another higher VP called me into a meeting and asked me to join her team. I accepted. He was in that meeting and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He delayed my transfer but he couldn’t fire me, so no problem. Lastly, while I was on vacation, several employees complained about this VP’s incompetence. A few weeks after I returned, he got canned and I got my transfer. Karma’s a b****, but Bill, I hope you read this, you deserved it!
I was internally recruited into a new position. Before I even understood my job I was asked to stay over to help tye graveyard shift, and I happily did. My shift supervisor kind of quickly bursted out during my lunch that no one should have to work past the time that they are scheduled. I agreed with her; no one should HAVE TO, but it was my choice to get overtime to just extend my shift a little longer each day. I got lots of praise for helping out but what I did notice was that I was being ostracized by everyone on my shift. When I was seemingly fine with that, but unfortunately because i was new they basically stopped training me so i was completely stuck and even worse I started being kept out of the loop of pertinent information to do my job properly so my performance review came out as “doesn’t meet standards.” I immediately got a hold of my previous supervisor and arranged for a transfer back to my previous dept with a raise added. I am so happy now.
Relationships get taken for granted all the time. I was military for 22 years followed by 20 years in financial services. Most employers take high performers for granted and treat them like they’re lucky to have a job. Some employees act like the grass is greener elsewhere. As a civilian, I learned that I had to take charge of my career. If you don’t like what’s going on with your employer, give yourself a raise by moving on. Be willing to relocate to a higher paying location if necessary.
I never got “quiet fired”, but I did have an employer create a team to serve a new region that they knew was failing, and then jettison all the people they moved to the region. This was a remote job in mortgage several years ago, they moved me and a dozen others to work in a Texas-based hub that had previously failed. Then 5 months later, all the people working the Texas region got laid off. Not a coincidence. This was early 2018.
This is why it’s important to save money so your livelihood is not controlled by your employer. In the end, it’s just a job and you need to keep your options open. Having savings gives you the power and flexibility to not depend on your employer and give you time to find something better in case you are fired or feel you need to quit for your mental health.
This happened to me. Somebody in HR got pissed that I filed FMLA due to recovering from back surgery. So the entire department coordinated to “shun” me like we were in middle school. Nobody would talk to me, look at me, or acknowlege I existed. Then they took away ALL my work and gave it to the new guy they hired to replace me, but they kept “reporting” me to HR for “not working”. I ended up basically staring at my blank desktop screen for 8 hours straight every day, because if I did literally anything else, they would report me and I had to go downstairs and get chastized by HR. I was in tears by the end of it and wanted to die. Quiet firing is evil because they have all the power and you have none. They could easily just fire you, but want to save a couple of bucks on the unemployment insurance.
Bad leadership seems to be a common problem now days. Directors, managers, supervisors and HR …. really are just out of touch with reality and many of them are not good people in general. True leadership is someone who takes the times and forms a team and makes everyone fill wanted to be part of the team!
I remember my Dad telling me about a time at his company when they went beast mode on cost-cutting. His buddy was only two years from retirement, but he was probably making 200K plus and had a DB pension, so they couldn’t fire him. They had to go the constructive dismissal route. They transferred him to some far north location in the middle of nowhere, but the joke was on them. He loved it there. He had nothing to do but go fishing and get paid. Lol. I suspect there was no legal way to get rid of him at that point in his career without getting slapped with the mother of all wrongful dismissal lawsuits.
I’ve noticed things before just like you describe. I’ve had lots of jobs (I’m 62 now but not retiring right now) I’ve been fired, “laid off”, but usually quit for something better! At my age I’m still looking and have an interview being set up now. It’s usually the people that make a job suck, not really the work.
Usually, if you get passed over for promotion or pay raises, it is far more likely that you are not “part of the correct” group than anything to do with your work. In the modern era, actual performers are threatening to the BS position holders higher up. This is particularly true if your work is being done without real guidance or direction from, well, anyone.
This happened to my husband. He was put on a pip at a small call centre. He took a good 30% of the calls in a centre of 1 50 people because he was just that good at it and he always got stellar reviews. The thing is he was very by the book with his calls and the managers would literally tell him to blatantly break policy to avoid escalations because it was easier. People also hated escalating his calls because he rarely produced escalations and therefore his escalations were hard to deal with. What it was is managers were embarrassed that he knew the book better than they did.
I was in that position. Everything was great before, I have been moving up the ladder with progress more senior roles, the senior management loved me etc. Then the next day I found out I was pregnant my boss who recently came back from a long absence due to his loss of a child put me on a monthly performance review. I had the most stressful pregnancy one can possibly think of. And because I already lost a child before, I didn’t want to disclose until it was visible. After my one year matleave (I am a Canadian) was over, I didn’t come back… I was helping my husband with his business etc. I still have a traumatic reaction to even thinking of going back to a corporate environment 😢
I’ve seen practically all of these in my career. Thankfully, I have not expereienced any of these personally, but I remember an older teammate that the company wanted out and they made her life a living hell until she finally quit. She was at the company 19 years and it ended by her getting bullied to the edge of the cliff. Never marry a company. Be a free agent.
I can say that I have gone through a few of these myself. The PIP is the most obvious one. Almost no one survives those. I did have a manager where things started off great between us, even promoted me. But that was short lived and within a year she’d moved me to the chopping block. Luckily I had the last laugh and resigned for a better job.
Stuff like this is so ridiculous and so childish. Just come out and say “you’re gone” and get it over with. This kind of thing is why I hate working and hate working with people. I swear, it’s my work experience that’s been the main inspiration behind my increasing antisocialness over the last few years (the pandemic definitely did not help either though. We saw a really interesting side to people when that went down). Dealing with work politics is exhausting and I’m over it. It’s literally people just making life more difficult than it needs to be.
I’ve lived through this experience. I refused to make it easy for the business owner though because I thought the business owner was being cowardly and I knew this person on a personal level as well. I knew he had the staff pulling strings to make work difficult for me. So I stuck it out and finally used his own policy against him and it cost him money and a customer. Then he finally let me go. I just wanted to see him finally have some balls it was a miserable experience 😂. It took getting him to basically act like a baby to get there though. I don’t talk to this dude anymore but I just recently learned he’s being sued. The universe is a funny place like that 🤷♂️.
Retired teacher here. We had a student who was diagnosed with severe depression and suicidal. This kid was a real physical danger to other students. They were disruptive regularly and would harm classmates (stab w pencils, trip, pinch with sharp nails, instigate fights). The district hr had ‘trainings’ on empathy toward this student and then wanted our team to sign a form stating ‘we received training’ on this situation…to cover their butt. If this student did anything dangerous, it would be the team’s/instructor’s fault. Period. None of us signed. F— HR.
Being fired is a great experience. It makes you much more antifragile. I was fired three times. But don’t think I am a looser. I am 36 and I have a 6 figure salary with big benefits. My experience: 1. Analyse what you did wrong, don’t blame an employer. If you selected a bad employer, it’s your mistake. Blaming employer won’t make you rich. 2. Immediately start searching a new job, don’t waste time trying your own business just because you think nobody will hire you. 3. Everyday spend some time on self improvement so that when you are fired you are ready for interviews. 4. Don’t decrease your salary expectations because of decreased self esteem. You passed an interview once, so you can pass on a higher salary again.
Iv been unfired twice in my retail days First time I was given a very bed review, told for the benefit of my career they would allow me to resign… I told them no if they where that unhappy with my performance I would accept my termination paperwork. Was sent back to work with a verbal warning. A month later I was accused of theft claimed they had me on vedio but once again for my benefit they would allow me to quit…I demanded to see the vedio .manager said if he showed me the vedio he would be forced to file charges with the police and strongly recommend I resign…. I stood my ground and demanded to see the vedio. Yep I was sent back to work with a verbal warning again.. I quit shortly after for a better job
Had most of what was listed in this article happen to me at my last job. I stayed until they had no choice to fire me which gave me time to put myself in the best position possible. When I was finally fired I had my next job lined up and ready to go 2 weeks after. They even tried to get me to sign a NDA (non disclosure agreement) stating that I was not allowed to say anything negative about the company or they would not pay my severance………something that is highly illegal in Canada. I refused to sign and told them I would get a lawyer if they didn’t give me my severance pay. They gave it to me on time, and if you live in Vancouver don’t buy a car at Brian Jessel BMW. He’s a crook who takes money from criminals who “fix” cars the insurance company consider right off’s his underlings treat anyone whose not sales staff like garbage.
I saw all the signs, including reassignment of my duties to others, being ghosted by staff, boss ignoring my emails and getting job duties cut slowly over time, but hung in there because was hoping to milk it a little longer because of major stressors in my life. I got fired this week… filed unemployment immediately. In addition to anger and embarrassment (and worry about money!), I actually feel relieved. I was miserable there…
Happened to me. Had been trying for promotion for years. Finally got it after writing a book and literally crossing every T and dotting every I. Finally got a position. First day when I met other new hires, I found out no one else had ANY experience. One person was a 21 year old college student. I got passed over for assignments and leadership opportunities, left out of meetings, but had to help others do their work. They basically ran around all day like it was a college campus. Broke all kinds of rules. I had two mistakes with legitimate good cause and both were written up and put in personnel file. I got no training. I saw what was going on and after seeing several other people get escorted out, I made decision thst if I was going, I was going to take the whole department with me. When they gave my coworkers another undeserved promotion (interviewed by same woman they took vacations with) and sent me to another unit to do a job I had no interest or skill in, I was ready to quit. Thank God I didn’t let how I was being treated affect how I treated others. I was recruited by a manager in another department and ended up getting best job of my career. Bottom line, if it feels like it, it probably is happening. This stuff is real and doesn’t matter if you work in public or private sector.
It’s so amazing that a company that hired me began harassing me within weeks of having hired me. My boss started dumping work on me, belittling me etc. My coworker had a role in this I’m sure. I began to dread going back into work on Mondays. I quit which is apparently what they wanted. This happened years ago. Now I know why!
I am actually in the following situation: no raises for years, increased workload and they told me my performance is lacking, although i had to work on late hours (my boss knows that i have children). Luckily i had a bad feeling about that for a while and thanks to your other articles, i was able to secure 2 jobs with much higher salary and companies that see value in my skills. Now i am in the good position to choose. Thank you very much!
There will be signs. When the company hires in a temp to ‘help’ on a project in your department and cross train. The temp gets trained better than you, and therefore performs better. Oh and someone let the word ‘displace someone’ slip in a conversation. The animosity it creates is definitely a hostile workplace. Polish your resume and run.
Remember everybody, alway keep a record of everything. Print out all emails from your supervisors and keep them in a folder. If you’re in a one-consenting-party state, then record all performance reviews and meetings with superiors. If someone makes a shady request of you, ask them for clarification in an email, and then save a hard copy of that email. Things can be deleted from the Company email. Be smart!!
Quiet firing should be illegal. I still have emotional trauma from a job 6 years ago. There’s no excuse to treat anyone poorly, especially in a work environment. There needs to be more justice when it comes to companies taking advantage of their employees before grabbing the rug out from under them. Reminds me of landlord tenant laws..
I had a boss that used to do these tactics. He had no courage to confront his subordinates I had to end up giving the subordinates negative feedback and worked to moved them into positions that they were more suited for or terminate them. You can save many employees if you just confront their poor performance head on. Most will improve and the others will usually quit. This passive aggressive tactic should never be used. It is bad for the morale for all employees because everyone will think that they are next.
Another sign is you ask for training that will bump you up to the next level of pay and they ignore or decline your requests. Happened to me. I sought out other work, landed a much more fulfilling job, and just gave notice via email yesterday (I didn’t have to provide notice because I’m casual but I have a conscience). Of course, no acknowledgment of my resignation. Oh well. Funny thing is I know they are going into their busy period and are short staffed. You treat good employees like they are nothing, you just screw yourself over in the end.
Always be on alert. Never stay with one company for more than 18-24 months, especially if you are in tech. As soon I join a new company, after three months I start searching for a position at another company where pay is much higher. That said, keep your skills up to date, and keep your health in shape.
This article hits close to home for my wife. She used to work for a firm that does appraisals for business ventures and the like and had worked for them almost a decade until she was let go. My wife went through several of the things listed in this article, with the addition being that she was put through her situation as an act of workplace retaliation (she reported inappropriate behavior by an immediate superior to her HR representative). She was put through the ringer through the course of several weeks until they finally laid her off (but not before forcing her to sign an NDA so she can get her severance package, which she would not have gotten otherwise). They tried everything in their power to get her quit up to and including verbal attacks, but she forced their hand via the lay off. Then it was discovered that this firm regularly uses these tactics to get rid of “problem employees” and had even been sued for their shenanigans. One thing- DO NOT SIGN ANY KIND OF NDA, EVEN IF IT MEANS HAVING YOUR SEVERANCE WITHHELD FROM YOU. Get legal council and determine your options instead.
My former boss tried shoving me out by doing almost all the things on this list as well as sabotage my work! I also got written up for BS and treated like a leper by my co-workers! My saving grace was that I had documentation going back years! Each time I was unfairly targeted, I jotted it down (or made notes in my phone) with specifics including date/time/area of the building/who, if anyone else was there to hear the incident/etc. I had years worth of documentation as the situation intensified!! When my treatment became unbearable, I spoke to HR, who promptly dismissed me. I did a bit of online research & ended up contacting an employment lawyer. Many work on a “no money unless you win” basis. When I explained all I had dealt with, the lawyer agreed to take the case & file a federal lawsuit. The paperwork this lawyer drew up to file with the court was nearly verbatim out of the notebook I had provided containing my years of documented abuse! Within a few weeks after filing this lawsuit, I was contacted by HR (who obviously got wind of the suit) offering me their services. 😄. After reminding them that I tried to lodge a complaint, which they didn’t deem worthy, I played the game & accepted their help (on the advice of my lawyer). I was amazed at how doing something I hesitated to do for years, because I never wanted to be “that person” alleviated the torture I was under. It was an absolute breath of fresh air to have a predictable schedule & a fair workload. Of course, I had to mind my Ps & Qs because they were waiting to pounce on any slip-up & most of my colleagues still didn’t talk to me, but it was such a drastic change, I was sorry I waited so long!
Transferred to a new dept for a promotion and a few weeks in started getting bullied and harassed by my supv and her boss. I was always a good worker and took pride in my work but they started changing the goalposts on me then wanted to put me on a PIP. I knew it was a death sentence and refused. Told them to fire me. I was just sick and exhausted by that time. Well, lo & behold they didn’t fire me. Long story but they were incompetent and we got a new manager who transferred one and fired the other. Stand up and fight back. At least you can say you tried.
If I find myself in that situation, I’d start gathering evidence of unfair treatment, discrimination and other things that would make the manager look bad or even put the manager in trouble. If he/she wants to fire you, let them make the move, you should make the most out of this situation and make sure you are getting all the benefits on leaving. If you just voluntarily leave you lose and they win.
Same thing happened to me. In my “termination meeting” my boss had a crooked smile the entire time as if he knew something that I didn’t. I stared him dead in the eyes and demanded he give me the honest reasoning as to why I was being fired and he could barely get a word out. HR supervisor tried to interject by discussing my severance package. Straight up ignored him while telling my boss that “I deserved the truth” but he kept avoiding eye contact with me. Shook the VP of HR’s hand (someone I actually respected) and told him it was a pleasure working with him as I saw the pain in his eyes. Gave my boss and HR supervisor the glare of death as I told them “I can’t say the same for you” and walked out. Point of the story? HR WORKS FOR THE COMPANY NOT YOU!!!
The 1st red flag came a few weeks of joining my new role. I was happy / excited (like most) when I started. 3 weeks in, I had my 1:1 with my director. She immediately seemed annoyed with my positive demeanor, in what seemed like a major shift from our article interview interaction. She asked me how things were going and as I began to speak, she abruptly cut me off and said “just wait until the honeymoon phase is over!” in a passive aggressive, condescending tone. From there on, both my director and supervisor seemed to be very up & down. I even received periodic messages from my supervisor randomly saying “sorry if I seemed angry” showing she knew she was aware of her shift in attitude towards me. During my time at time at this place, training was non-existent. No process guides, no nothing! I had to beg for knowledge, and wanted to learn the ropes of my role as they knew this was a new type of experience for me from the get-go. I am an avid self-starter, quick learner, and self-motivated and found myself questions my own abilities until I began reflecting. I noticed my supervisor would rush through a high level training, going so fast that I’d need a pause to keep up with notes. She refused and said we had to hurry through, she had too many meeting conflicts (although I could clearly tell her calendar was clear for several hours). Everything was always rushed and I was given fragments to piece together. I noticed also when I would begin these processes and putting them into place, and ask questions along the way, I would get nasty grams about information I was never told from the beginning- little pieces would just start being pinged to me.
For the past 4 years I have been harassed by two supervisors and a director. Sure they were probably trying to quite fire me but I like the company and my job. So I turned the table on them and escalated my concerns about how they were breaking corporate policy by harassing me and took them to HR. I spoke to several top executives and a company lawyer. I was assigned to deal directly with a VP about my concerns. I got my one boss in trouble, my year end review was rewriten and the bonus I was told I would not get was given to me. Document document document. You can take management to HR just like they can take you to HR. While I can’t confirm why, several of the people involved in harassing me were let go over the past 4 years, including my then VP but not the VP assigned to me. Fight in what you want. Don’t quit. I now am back to getting the respect I once was getting.
This happened to me twice. The first time was at a very toxic job years ago, it was in the form of a PIP with requirements that the micromanaging boss almost certainly knew I’d never be able to meet. Combined with a few big rookie-level mistakes on my part, it was clear that it was just an excuse to get rid of me, which is exactly what happened. The second time in a more recent job, the bosses kept reassigning my work and “transitioned” me into a “hybrid” role that became increasingly insulting and demeaning, despite the fact that I was considered a very capable worker in the role I had before. When the boom came that the bosses encouraged me to fully take that demeaning level job, both sides knew push had come to shove. Fortunately, in that case, they liked me enough to give me free reign to apply for jobs and go to interviews, and it didn’t take me long to get into my much better current role.
It’s utterly ridiculous when companies constantly get upset when their tactics are found out or if the working class has a new law in place to keep them in check. It’s amazing how long they as companies have always had the perks and benefits that solidified whether or not they want us around, but no sooner do we minions find our confidence and emboldened ourselves to hold them accountable such as forming unions, they squeal and say how unfair it is that WE workers are making their lives hell. You see, they can’t play the victim but yet also participate in the demise of their own workforce. For FS! They have an HR department dedicated in solely in keeping things in the companies best interest.
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This happened to me. My manager tried to file an old employee warning on me that she said she wasn’t going to file. The hr denied it and then she filed another one with trumped up charges. It was abundantly clear she didn’t want me working for the company. I knew it was retaliatory but I couldn’t sue because it was not race, religion or sexual oriented. She was reprimanded by the cfo because of customer service issues I had to rectify in her absence. The cfo put me in an awkward place by asking me who was Ultimately to blame. I knew I had a target on my back. I should have left long ago…it’s a Terrible place to be in when this happens…
One of the big problems with quitting the job is that you will lose out on the severance, which can be substantial when you have worked a long time for the company. In these situations I have observed that it’s better to bear it and force the company to lay you off. They will not fire you if there is no cause. If they make up a cause they can get sued by you, so smart HR departments stay away from such an approach. So what they usually end up doing is laying you off which means they’ll have to pay you severance. I recently saw a case in my company where the employee had three years remaining on a five year contract, and when they made her life miserable she just hung on. In the end the company bought out her remaining contract and had to pay her over a quarter million dollars for her to exit. She decided to retire early even though she could have had a similar job with the competition within weeks. I realize all situations are different, but if a company is obligated to pay an employee they no longer want, they should simply do so, and if not, the employee should hang on and make them pay.
It’s very often done to people over 55….. my hours were always getting cut, just enough to keep my benefits… I never took the bait and stayed just because they wanted me out. 😂 looking back I guess when they started the quiet firing… I STARTED THE QUIET QUITTING. I STAYED UNTIL I WAS READY TO GO AT 65 and made them lay me off.
This happened to me years ago at a laundry mat. The owners daughter started complaining about a soap dish for 3 days. It was obvious she was trying to get me to quite, which I did. She thanked me for quitting because she hired her best friend for the summer, and they couldn’t afford both of us working. I learned that day what a person with no business sence and a lack of personal integrity looked like. Sadly she is most likely still treating good employees like garbage.
The best thing to do is follow your gut. For two years I’ve had to endure a highly toxic work environment where from day one they were looking for any reason to get me in trouble. The smallest infraction like forgetting to sign a fire extinguisher tag(even though every other in the building was signed and checked) warranted a write up. When they could have just said hey bud you missed one make sure you don’t forget to sign. The most petty things would be taken to the extreme. At the time I was a building engineer apprentice(which is supposed to be the position you take to learn the trade). Then they finally were about to move me from the building to another on the grounds that I didn’t wear a mask in the building towards the end of the pandemic and before they were going to move me I told them I already accepted a journyman job at another building. The difference is unreal. I am finally in a work environment where I am respected from day one and a place where I have actual mentors.
This is why i work for myself. After tech school, i worked for a small miserable company. Saved up a down-payment for a 2 family house, fixed it up and rented it out, got some equity and i did it again and again, got into owning apartments. All top quality places and did background checks on my tenants. I fully retired at 48 and live off the rents. I keep everything fixed and repaired.
My prior supervisor left two months ago, and I just received a perfect (5/5 across the boards) review and he was vocal about promoting me to a Senior based on years of high performance and leadership. In other words, the promotion was already overdue. Yes, the place has some culture/environmental issues. On Friday my new unqualified supervisor (my 10th supervisor in 4 years) told me via email that the promotion is “off the table”, citing communication and leadership problems in direct conflict with my review. On Monday I sent him my two weeks notice. Yes, I was quiet fired, and honestly this guy is so out of touch he might not even know that’s what he did.
Their big mistake was that management couldn’t keep their mouths shut… so it got back to me through one of the bosses kids telling the sister of the girl I was seeing that I was going to lose my job and gleeful about it. I was already considering leaving due to mistreatment ramping up, that sealed it. Once I secured another job I started doing double shifts, once I had a financial cushion and assurance of even more hours at the new job, I put my notices in. Everyone backed off, they left me alone and I did my level best and no further. They really couldn’t say anything… what were they going to do? Fire me? I told someone if they did, I could catch up on sleep, chores, go out with my friends and girlfriend…a vacation. It was glorious to leave.
In my previous job, I came back from a 10-day vacation to find that the structural changes I made as dept head had been changed without my knowledge and my own direct report was rearranging everyone’s seating order. I knew right there and then that I was on the retrenchment list and my direct report had behind-the-scene negotiations done to supersede me. I literally had nothing to do in the weeks that followed until HR was ready to come clean on their intent. Knowing I was losing my job and spending weeks hanging around in my office waiting for the axe to fall on my neck was one of the most traumatic experiences in my entire career. But it was also the best thing to have happened. Those who weren’t retrenched suffered massive paycuts while I received a severance package in the form of 3 months’ worth of pay in full. I secured a better job elsewhere with a higher position and much better pay just a month later, so basically I ended the year with a promotion, a fat raise and a 2-month bonus.
I used to work part time and kept asking for full time hours as I couldn’t afford the essentials such as rent and food. The company kept telling me their budget wouldn’t cover it and yet they kept hiring new workers on fulltime contracts. So I quit and found a fulltime job elsewhere with better pay, better conditions and better benefits.
I used to work for a major retailer. The workers were represented by a union. There were people who were under an old contract and people who were under a newer contract. Old contract workers made more money and had better benefits than new contract workers. Managers would yell and scream at old contract workers to try and get them to say something that they could fire them for, or they would just quit.
In my last position I received an overwhelmingly negative evaluation from my supervisor who had only been in the role for 5 months. She opted to create her own criteria and disrespect the scoring system provided in the evaluation. I was regularly given tasks previously assigned to colleagues higher up and I was not provided any support when I communicated repeatedly that my work load was becoming unmanageable. Once I was criticized for taking a half day off during a week of conflict and back and forth with management I knew I was intentionally not being supported and had to quit.
My gut is super tuned to the company feeling and co workers. After having worked in some good places, and some horrible,terrible companys, in 4 countries for over 35 years, even on the visit to the company i can detect problems, interviewer attitude, ceo personality, a few weeks working there, and i can even get an idea of how long the job will last for me in the presented conditions. Just about every type of coworker sabotage, backstabbing, underhand dealing, constructive dissmissal attempt i have witnessed.
If you get the feeling that you are being pushed time to start setting things up. It is amazing how much information you can gather or hide in a short time. Happened to me and when they pushed me out the bosses had to come back looking for various information. Some things they got but at a major price other information never surfaced and was a major loss over a significant period of time.
I can relate to a couple points you made in this article. Not because the employer was wanting to ditch me, but because the manager was one of those “it is easier to force productive people to do more than to get the unproductive to do anything extra.” mentality. While I was the same level employee as everyone else, same pay schedule based on years of service and we all had the exact same job description…management certainly did not have the job expectation for everyone. I’m trying to word this in a way that doesn’t imply industry nor company as it is not a comment about those, so please bear with me as I try to formulate the wording accurately. Our job description was identical. There were two separate aspects of the job…example would be an interior and an exterior as the concept. Everyone is supposed to be fully trained and operate in both forums. But that wasn’t realty in practice. Some only did one, some only did the other and then there were some (I was one of these people) that were fully expected to do both. The biggest difference is each separate aspect had what can be called “down time” or “lulls” as the workload for say the interior was heavy from time A to B and then outside was busy from C to D. In those gap times, there was “nothing to really do” as the job functions were dependent on certain aspects independent of the actual job. Thus, those who only did interior had free time from the end of B until A became busy again. Likewise outside had free time from the end of D until C was called for.
These are very accurate comments. I saw my Fortune 100 company do this to other people and then when I came to me I knew the playbook. I documented, in writing and recordings, for about 18 months all that was going on. In the end I filed a lawsuit and the company paid me a settlement out of court in 2021
I was subject to this at my old job. I was lucky that my old boss was an idiot, though. Not exactly subtle in his attempts to push me out. I quit when it would be a massive headache for him and he was fired a year later. I love my current job and boss. There is definitely something to be said for taking power and self agency by deciding on your own terms when and how you leave or forcing your coward company to man up and fire you lol.
The most hilarious thing is that they think they got one on to you. Yes there are some genuinely bad employees bad those are rare and they totally deserve the boot. Employers think they just got rid of some low performer when in reality they just got rid of a valuable asset to the company. How’s that going to work huh? More often than not they need to replace you by hiring two people, for a higher salary and more risk. Oh yeah sure you can replace people with entry level jobs trying to unload all that’s been piled up since you left and in 2 years it’s rinse and repeat. The pendulum is swinging to our side and I’m all for it.
I had many of these done to me in a Pharma CRO after my director (who came to our company from another CRO the FDA shut down for shady practices) found out that I wouldn’t falsify data in order to make the timelines and sponsor wishes. The junior people below me with no ethics would do it, so I was moved out over time and replaced. It definitely made me re-think ever working at a contract research organization ever again.
Another sign is when your boss/manager ceases giving you your performance review(probably more common at smaller companies). If you inquire about it they will blow you off with something like, “Yeah. We’re scrambling to get through the fiscal year. We’ll be giving everyone their review at the beginning of Q1”. Then, if you talk to coworkers, you learn that everyone recently got their review.
You just described my entire experience the past month. PIP today. Unrealistic expectations…. Boss is over critical. Heck my bosses changed and no one told me. I found out 2 months later. Will be gone within the next week. Honestly I feel relieved. My quality of life has suffered…. It just isn’t worth it
Hey Brian i was wondering if you could do a article on Nepotism or discrimination in a workplace? It is actually very common that the management of a company will only hire or promote family, friends or people from the same country as them and those that work hard, or have the necessary skills are always passed over for promotions or hours. What can we do to increase our chances to move up in the company?
Yeah, this is happening to me right now. They basically transferred everyone out of my team in a week, six people. Transferred all new people in there, put a new manager in there, and laid on the pressure big time. Of course I was going to crack under those circumstances, the workloads is not at all reasonable and they transfer people they want to keep out of that team in three months, everyone else who has been there, I’ve been there nine months. Hopefully I have a new job before the next round of ‘I’m going to tell you the minimum amount to get you back working, if you want to apply for other jobs we will roll out the red carpet for you, take as much time as you need for interviews.’ Or I’ll just ask them to end the “probation” period, that they extended!
Had my exit interview yesterday with my current employer. Was told that ’employees come and go’, and that ‘it’s unavoidable’. Now that there is just downright evil. I wouldn’t be quitting if they listened: No, I don’t like working 20 hours a day, 12 hours of which are unpaid; no, I don’t like compensating for the work others left behind because we couldn’t hire fast enough; and no, I don’t like it when they hire people from outside to be my immediate superior when I’M THE ONE WHO HAS TO TEACH THEM TO DO THEIR JOB. Was it as unavoidable as they say it is? No, clearly not. The HR Manager was talking out of his ass.
I think this is happening to me. My female manager keeps writing me up for job performance. In the write ups she exaggerates. The last one she stated it took me 4 hours to do one task. When it actually only took me 3 hours. Then I did something else the other hour. I think she’s upset that I’m leaving early on her shift and she can’t do anything about it. I’ve started updating my resume. It’s time for me to move on anyway. Just trying to survive until September 23rd. Thats when I get my bonus for being employed with the company for 5 years.
I was quietly fired by the following 1. Ostracized from the group 2. Passed over for a bonus but found out same level coworker got one 3. Called bipolar and insulted in front of the entire company at a Christmas party 4. Put on a pip One manager took to behind the scenes backstabbing of me and ruined my reputation with the entire management. She intentionally outcast me and made me feel like I was awful when I was just doing a good job and she was threatened by me. All the above happened after she got in the ear of management. For the past t years I wondered if I was crazy. This article made me finally realize I was right in leaving the company. Which just happened to end up being the best thing that ever happened to me career wise.
It is illegal where I live, but very hard to prove. I’ve noticed that the managers who carry out the harassment are absolute masters at making it look innocent. Some are such experts that the targeted employee looks like they’re being paranoid or even have it in for the manager if they make accusations.
2020: top performer in my team, near perfect PDR score. Solid 7am shift start that never moved. 2022: “does not meet expectations”. Shifts changing randomly. Even to the point of breaking labor laws in my state (4pm to midnight on Sunday followed by 7am to 3pm in Monday) Annual leave rejected twice, then forced to take a day of annual leave because they can’t assign 8 days of duty days in a row. Also still hold 400+ hours annual leave in hand. We have 2 or 3 years of contract left on my team and I’m pretty sure they’re cringing at the redundancy settlement I’d be entitled to as a 15 year employee.
I see I’m being Quiet Fired. I am a nurse working 12 shifts part time. The new schedule came out and my hours were reduced drastically! No warning, no courteous discussion or heads up. There are many more signs showing the company is down-sizing, even shuffling patients into crowded situations or giving them the boot. Heartless! I am updating my resume’ and have applied to work for Hospice, something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m grateful to see the writing on the wall and recognize the caustic work environment. Time for me to show professionalism and self respect. I will be checking to see what their policy is concerning paying my accrued sick leave. And I have to say that HR is NOT on your side. They work for the company, not for the employees. I had HR change my time punch from 7.5 hours to one hour. I had to haggle with HR for a week before they finally gave me what was owed. Thank you for your website and good advice.
My last employer was checking all these boxes. I even saw my job posted on a website and decided to confront him and was told “oh, we are growing so much we need another person doing your job”. Which would have been good, but I was the only one doing my job and knew business wasn’t growing that much and if it was, no one was telling me. I eventually waited it out and just waited for them to fire me so I could collect unemployment. It ended up being a blessing in disguise. Looking back it was a toxic workspace. As you have pointed out in previous articles they had a lot of red flags from the beginning including the “we have a start-up culture but are growing”, or “we want someone who is a go-getter and ready to just blow things up for us” and my favorite thing was the bonus pay matrix which changed 3 months in as a result of them having me do things outside the scope of the original job.
I realized very early on in my job that the company regretted hiring me but they did not want to fire me. I knew I had to fight for my job. I began to call out my boss in meetings where she said one thing but did something else. I made sure there were witnesses to this activity and would call them out and say you know you heard or read the email. I kept my boss and HR on their heels. If they called me on my actions I always called them out on theirs. This was not a game for me. I knew I had the job I wanted and they would have to be open with me. I let them know when they crossed lines and did not hide how I felt. After 3 years of no raises I called a corporate hotline and made my case. A week later my boss came to me with a sizable raise and a promotion. Later my boss and the department manager were replaced with knowledgeable competent leaders who recognized my talent. The HR is the same and during a meeting with the organization leaders I recently called out the HR supervisor for her inconsistencies over the years and let her know they were not considered to be acceptable anymore. She understood that I had her over a ledge on other things and backed off in the meeting. My boss and her boss sat mouth agape as I made my case in that meeting. Things are looking up for me. The stress levels are down for the whole department and productivity charts are through the roof. It has been 8 years now and the whole department is wonderful now. Thankful to those who stuck with me and for God who gave me the courage to fight inequities in this setting.
Companies who do these things aren’t worth the heartache. Mental health is paramount these days. Had an employer in Tejas who tried to threaten me with legal action because they wanted me to repay all the bonuses I had earned in the years prior. I laughed in their face, told the company owner some colorful language, flipped the bird in his face, and walked out of there. I spent the next 8 months acting as a free agent and managed to make more money in that time than I did working at the previous crap company.
I was quiet fired. I was told to report to someone I trained. I was intentionally left out of meetings and conversations, left off emails, yet held accountable because “I didn’t know what was going on”. I was taken off projects I started from the ground up and were successful. I’m pretty sure it was ageism. I kept pointing out policy violations, bad practices, and somethings that were just illegal. I was old enough to retire with a good pension, so I didn’t quiet quit, I just quit. I talked to someone else from a different shop, after I left, my old team fell apart and were all let go.
Everything I’ve read/seen around PIPs is that unless you work in the public sector getting a PIP (also perhaps if you are a salesperson but even them as well in most cases) means they want you gone and you’d likely not survive. Even if you do survive it would be a good thing to find a different job with a different company.
I’m quitting my job at Inland Technology because they lack severely on training and expect new workers to completely know how to operate the entire plant by themselves in 2 weeks before being thrown onto the graveyard shift with no supervisors. After a paycut I informed my supervisors that it’s unhealthy for me to stay and that I’m seeking new employment and when I do find new employment I’m done. Fast forward one week and I’m getting slapped left and right with write ups for the same things the other guys are doing, in fact the other guys are allowed to stay off the security cameras and play on their phones while I’m being singled out and “need to stay working” 46 min lunch I get a write up when the others take 90 minutes I take my allowed breaks and I get a lecture. The others take a 15 minute break every hour. Harassment and retaliation are gonna be my cases to make against Inland Technology.