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Uh, Good Morning: We Need Your Resignation By Friday

Editorial Team

How would you feel if your employer told you that come Friday you had to submit your resignation and apply for a new job—which might not necessarily be the one you left? That’s what’s happening at The Journal News in suburban Westchester, N.Y. where executives plan to cut 70 out of 288 advertising and editorial positions—that’s a quarter of all jobs. But instead of outright layoffs, the newspaper ordered everyone to resign—and apply for jobs. Can you imagine being told today that you’ll need to do the same? Share your thoughts.

Comments

  1. Kathryn

    This is a way for the employer to get out of paying unemployment. I would not resign and force them to fire me so I could get unemployment and maybe a package. I would then simultaneously be looking for a job elsewhere. It is one thing to have everyone interview for new positions but quite another to have them revoke their right to unemployment by resigning to be able to interview.

  2. Nancy

    This is a nice way to not have to pay unemployment – because YOU QUIT!

  3. Kelly W

    It happened to me a few years ago. I’d come to work one Monday and my code wouldn’t work. I said something to my boss’s wife, who handles such things. She said she’d get it fixed. A few days later, I suffered a miscarriage – my third. Yes, they knew I was pregnant. I called and told them about it and that I had a D&C scheduled for the next day, a Friday. They told me it was not a problem. When I came to work on Monday it took less than an hour for my boss to ask for my resignation. By 10:00 I had my office cleared out. To add insult to injury, when I filed for unemployment he tried to stop it by claiming I’d quit. I countered that I was forced to, that I loved that job and would never have resigned voluntarily. I further told them that my boss had offered to put me on contract status for 3 months, which I declined because that was not why and how I was hired. The unemployment officer agreed and, even though I resigned, found in my favor because of “change in hiring status.” Then my boss wouldn’t even give me a letter of recommendation, stating he would be happy to give a good reference via phone call from the potential employer. It’s a big assumption on his part that I would trust him to even give a good reference!

  4. Tina Gallagher

    I went through this in 1995 from SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories. Their reasoning then was that the customer service department was being closed in San Antonio, Texas laboratory and moved to Dallas. We came to work every day not knowing if we would be sent home, fired or “your choice to resign.” We were even sent through job seeking courses with job developers and told about severance pay. I determined not to “resign.” If they wanted me gone, they would have to fire me. I was told that if I went that route, I would not be allowed to re-interview for any other job in the company. (There weren’t any openings.) I held my ground, thinking I had found this job, I could find another. Somehow, somewhere. Two days later we were told we could stay. I left that company two years later, never trusting them again. The effect the company had on the employees was devestating. No one gave above 100% any more. No one was happy. We all acted like we were working on a glass floor that could shatter at any moment. Morale there never recovered. The company sold the laboratory to Quest Labs, and to this day the employees still watch the management closely when the economy gets bad. Companies just don’t get what they do to their people- they want loyalty without showing or exercising any.

  5. Anne

    At least the press and the EEOC know about it.
    I still wouldn’t quit, because you would be sacrificing potential severance payments, WARN payment if applicable, and create delays securing unemployment benefits.

  6. Linda

    I was informed (with 5 days notice) that my sales figures need to improve from 8-15-8-30. Otherwise, I will be let go or my hours will be cut. We are talking about the last 2 weeks of the summer when 80% of the country is on vacation! I am being set up to fail!

  7. dhicks

    The last position I held over a year ago, I had been sent to work off site supposedly to help another Engineer for a week. I had never had any bad feed back or given anything but positive comments on my work so I did not think anything of it. When I returned I could not log in to my computer. When I asked the IT guy what was wrong he told me to ask my boss. I went into his office and was told I was not fitting in! and that I would be given a good reference since I had done well on my projects. He later claimed I quit and I was originally denied unemployment benefits. I called the head of accounting and she actually wrote the employment department a letter to get my benefits. So my boss was a snake but God is always in the hearts of others and the head of Accounting knew I got screwed. I was the only female engineer and she always thought highly of me. I don’t miss corporate America at all!!! I do miss my pay check:)and benefits.

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