Can I ask for an exit package or will they just fire me if I do?
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Anonymous
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Im a mid level manager at a fortune 100. I’ve been in performance management limbo/hell since February. I was prepared to be put on a PIP long ago, but they keep putting it off for whatever reason. Meanwhile, I have zero scope and am doing the absolute BARE minimum to the point that it’s uncomfortable. It’s astonishing to me that I am still here. My guess is they will do it at year end, but I would love to leave before then. I just don’t want to leave for free unless I have to.
What will happen if I simply ask for an exit package? Of course that will reveal my cards that I don’t want to be here anymore, so they could simply say no and fire me. But will they? Anyone in HR or have experience with this? (I am happy to explain the back story of how we got here if interested, but didn’t want to make this too long). |
Anonymous
| What? You think they're going to pay you to leave when you're already on a PIP? lol. |
Anonymous
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I’m not in HR, but I am a manager at a F50 and have had an unfortunate experience of managing someone on a PIP. If your company’s HR is as conservative as ours, they require a lot of paperwork before a person is put on a PIP/fired. I’m guessing your management is going through the motions right now behind the scenes. My non-performer found another job and left voluntarily before being fired. I don’t think we would’ve fired her if she’d asked for a package but we wouldn’t have given it to her either.
I think PPs are right - you should take this free time to look for another job. |
Anonymous
I was on a PIP and got severance. A PIP is just an easy way to get someone out the door quickly; I was not a bad employee it was just a bad fit and they wanted me gone. That being said I think OP is being way too, uh, calculating about this. |
Anonymous
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OP here. This is what happened:
In the fall I got a positive year end review, then gave birth days later. In the winter, while out on mat leave, my formal review was posted and it was negative, which usually results in a PIP. No explanation given. At this point I mentally prepared to leave. I come back and was informed I’ll be put on a coaching plan, which is the precursor to a PIP. Then they told me nevermind. Meanwhile they’ve given me a totally BS scope, which I can see is their way to eventually fire me, most likely during the year end review process. I would like more time to devote to my next opportunity — I’m doing very little, but enough that it’s a time suck to commute and sit on calls, etc. I *know* they are ready to be rid of me. And I them. I know Google recently sent an email saying essentially, if you’re not committed that’s fine, you can leave and here is the package you will get. Like voluntary layoffs essentially. There is more to it than this, like weird stuff on my team and being treated terribly during my maternity leave, which makes me think they are keeping me here because they’re worried I’d sue or something. I have no idea, but there must be some reason I’m still here. I know this sounds incredibly ballsy but I’m basically in a social experiment of how impossible it is to get fired from corporate America. Im beyond ready to cut the cord, but if there’s any chance I could get a severance package, I want one. I think if I simply stay, I would get a PIP by late fall and be ousted with a package by winter. But I’d prefer to have that happen now so I can focus on my next venture guilt free. |
Anonymous
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Just hang out. What are you stressing about? If they move to fire you, they probably will offer a package because the entire timeline around your maternity leave looks sketchy AF.
Look for a new job in the meantime while you collect a paycheck and do the bare minimum. Hell, you should probably try to swing a J1/J2 situation and turbo-charge your savings. How often are you in-person? |
Anonymous
| If you work for the kind of organization that would give you a package for resigning, you would know it. Most places will not do this. |
Anonymous
Obviously this is a fine backup plan if I have to. I’ve been doing this since May. But the longer I’m here the longer I can’t launch my next thing. And I’m also having to travel for BS meetings and do all the planning and logistics that are necessary with kids and family when you have to travel. Fine if you’re committed to the job, but feels so frustrating to deal with when I know I have no future here. |
Anonymous
| What do you do in your next thang? No commuting or metings? |
Anonymous
There won't be a next thing. |
Anonymous
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It’s possible you DO have a suit, OP.
You’d be smarter to carefully document everything that happened, if you think you were discriminated against for being pregnant or taking maternity leave, then file that with HR before they can put you on a PIP… then the PIP becomes retaliation… and you’re in a much stronger position than you are now. |
Anonymous
| I hear you OP. I'm looking to retire within the next couple of months. With another PE owner and new C suite, thought for sure they would give me a package so that they could hire their own person. Didn't happen so using my vacation time because if I quit, they don't pay it out. Use your time to look for a job and take all the time owed to you. |
Anonymous
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Never quit without the next thing lined up. If you're ready to quit, just quit. They aren't gonna let you self-terminate with severance.
If you're traveling and executing projects I don't agree that it's guaranteed you're on your way out TBH. |
Anonymous
This. If you find another job, give notice then. It’d harder to get a job unemployed. |
Anonymous
At this point, OP is sabotaging herself for a suit. She's doing the bare minimum at her job so when she does get a PIP and gets fired, they can point to all this. Which has nothing to do with her maternity leave. |