How Can You Save Your Job?
Whether you have been laid off, downsized, or fired for cause, you have many important decisions to make within the first few hours and days. If you have been with the company for a long time and/or have a job you really love, your first decision might be to fight to keep your job.
Before you panic or pack up your belongings, think about any scenarios under which it might be possible for you to stay with this employer to accumulate more service time and possibly bridge any time needed to fulfill the requirements of your pension or other retirement plan. At the very least, continued employment, no matter how brief, can provide some continuity and income while you are looking for another job.
The first thing to do is get a handle on your employer’s policies and practices regarding termination. Go to your human resources or personnel department to obtain a copy of the company’s handbook or personnel manual, or any other written statements of company policies or practices for handling employee complaints or concerns.
If your employer has no set policy, or if the appeals or grievance process that exists has provided you with no relief, there are other methods to exhaust before accepting termination. Find out who has the authority to reinstate you. This could be your immediate supervisor, a department head, an ombudsman, or even the president of the company. Go as high up the chain of command as good sense permits if you really want to hold on to your job or find employment elsewhere in the company. You have nothing to lose and may salvage more than you thought you could.
If informal efforts to save your job are not successful, you may need to take more formal steps within the company. You must follow the official grievance or complaint process to the letter in challenging your termination. This typically requires you to act within a certain amount of time and to communicate with only specified company officials. At each step in the process, you should make a written request for reinstatement to your position and document the company’s responses to your arguments. Regardless of whether or not you are successful, it is worth a shot to try and save your job.
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Courtesy of Workplace Fairness. For more information regarding the article, visit http://www.workplacefairness.org/saving-your-job
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